Anthony Giddens (1938-)

The Third Way, Revisionist socialism/neo socialism

Human Nature

-the ‘corrosive’ effects of capitalism and individualism upon community and fraternity but should be stressed capitalism and individualism is irreversible

-pro-fairness instinct is now in competition with a sharpened sense of individual aspiration

Society

-’Triangulate’ social democracy’s wish for more equality with neo-liberalism’s unmatched capacity to empower individuals

-triangulation essential in a ‘post-Fordist’ capitalist society which had left workers feeling alienated the workforce has been ‘atomised’

-post-Fordist societies however he accepted were liberating allowing 'individuals to ‘self actualise’

-without community individuals less sure footed and more likely to be influenced by economic and cultural elites

-Greater equality of opportunity requires more inequality of outcome

-produces larger tax yields and more public spending

-Tony Benn criticised the third way claiming it was an effort to make inequality of outcome appear more acceptable while consolidating the position of wealthy people

-the tax burden under new labour however was in fact much higher than any conservative government leading to much larger amounts of public spending

-39% gross domestic product in 1997 to 47% in 2010

State

-Played into much of New Labours ideas (Tony Blair and Gordon Brown) persuading them to renounce Clause IV which was a commitment to public ownership

-Peter Mandelson- ‘We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy stinking rich… just as long they pay their taxes’

-state would have to be more proactive, investing heavily in infrastructure

-and modernising system of education designed to prepare citizens for the knowledge economy

-State should redistribute and decentralise political power while encouraging greater political participation

The economy

-Mixed economy outdated, neo-liberal economy now favoured

-Keynesian economics obsolete a more free market brand of capitalism required which will provide huge tax yields and increases in public spending

-securing greater equality of opportunity

-greater inequality of outcome would provide funds for public services

-modern leftists should ‘go with the flow’ by encouraging further privatisation and further deregulation