Against the Third Way: An Anti-Capitalist Critique

by Alex Callinicos

The Third Way is the political philosophy of Tony Blair and New Labour in Britain, Bill Clinton in the United States, and Gerhard Schröder in Germany. Defended most forcefully by Anthony Giddens, it claims to offer a strategy for renewing the Centre Left that avoids the free-market liberalism of the New Right and the state socialism of the Old Left.
In Against the Third Way Alex Callinicos develops a fundamental critique of this philosophy. He argues that Third Way governments have continued the neoliberal policies of their conservative predecessors. They have promoted the interests of the multinational corporations, privatized areas where Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher dared not go, and allowed social and economic inequality to continue growing. Callinicos also attacks the theoretical underpinnings of the Third Way. He challenges the idea that the 'knowledge economy' is freeing us from the contradictions of capitalism, denies that New Labour has coherent strategies for achieving greater equality or reconciling the interests of individual and community, and argues that what is called 'political globalization' - the higher profile of international institutions such as NATO, the IMF, and the WTO - masks the assertion of American imperial power.
The best hope for the Left, Callinicos contends, lies in the emergence of an international movement against global capitalism with the protests at Seattle, Prague, and elsewhere. Those who want to see real change should be challenging the logic of the market rather than, like Blair and Clinton, extending its dominion.

Genres: Politics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Alexander Theodore Callinicos, a descendant through his mother of Lord Acton, is a political theorist and Director of the Centre for European Studies at King's College London. He holds both a BA and a DPhil from Oxford University.

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

fairly standard critique of clinton/blair/kohl policy in the early triumphalist period of the post-cold war world. that's all pre-bush, so a lot of the triumphalism is now overcome by events.

[Manolo Ferrer · Rating 1 out of 5]

More Marxist propaganda. Not a single practical solution or remedy.

[Daniel Meira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 se fosse possível. O melhor: sumariza e contextualiza, com episódios da história recente, manifestações políticas da terceira via e casos de resistência como as manifestações de Seattle e o pos 2a guerra Mundial e guerra fria. O autor fornece pontas para pegar e aprofundar sobre o tema. Estranhei, no entanto, não haver uma única referência a Chomsky. Apoia-se fortemente em Castells e Giddens. O pior: a crítica necessitava de mais substância nas teses que sugere. Não deixa de ser uma boa introdução ao tema.

[mahatmanto]

saya sedang membolak-baliknya saja.
terjemahan dalam bahasa indonesia.
sebelumnya, saya sudah membaca dan terkesan dengan tulisan callinicos dalam 'against postmodernism".

[Zrinka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea, but it was OK. If you've read anything by Chomsky, there's no big revelation in this book.