Will Leggett | University of Birmingham (original) (raw)

Papers by Will Leggett

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to crimina... more Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The Third Way and beyond, Jul 30, 2018

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology

Critical Policy Studies, 2021

Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified... more Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. • Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. • Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. • User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of 'fair dealing' under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) • Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document. When citing, please reference the published version. Take down policy While the University of Birmingham exercises care and attention in making items available there are rare occasions when an item has been uploaded in error or has been deemed to be commercially or otherwise sensitive.

Anthony Giddens has suggested that had he simply called his seminal book The Third Way ‘The Renew... more Anthony Giddens has suggested that had he simply called his seminal book The Third Way ‘The Renewal of Social Democracy’ instead, it would probably have been far less influential or controversial.1 It is true that ‘Third Way’ was perhaps an unfortunate choice of label, leading to protracted definitional debates and making for an easy object of ridicule. However, Giddens is also right that, whatever we call it, many of the Third Way’s key tenets are now widely accepted as common sense across the political spectrum, and will outlive the expression itself. After a brief recap on the Third Way’s main themes, this chapter argues that academic critics and political opponents on both left and right were wrong to dismiss it as merely spin, or as a smokescreen for another (usually neoliberal) ideological agenda. Whatever one’s political views on the Third Way, it should be recognised as an important analysis of the fundamental transformations of late modernity; this has profound implications...

We are grateful to the Centre for Critical Social Theory at the University of Sussex for supporti... more We are grateful to the Centre for Critical Social Theory at the University of Sussex for supporting this conference. 2 Although, in Germany, opposing attacks on Iraq helped win votes for the SPD and the Greens. 8 The Third Way 12 The Third Way both. The more radical claim is that of 'going beyond' or transcending such contrary themes. It is one thing to say that there may be ways of reconciling, for instance, the promotion of enterprise and the attack on poverty; it is quite another to say that the two 'themes' can no longer be in conflict. It follows that it is important to identify not just the keywords of the Third Way, such as 'new', 'tough', 'deal', 'reform' and 'partnership', but also their relationship with the rest of the discourse. The discourse contains a mix of 'Old Left' words such as 'equity' linked with New Right words such as 'efficiency' (equity and efficiency), and words that attempt to stamp a Third Way identity such as 'partnership' or 'contract'. Values The values of the Third Way remain problematical, mainly for two reasons. First, an adequate understanding of values requires more than one-word treatments. This links with an extensive ideology/political philosophy literature. 31 There is general agreement that 'equality' is a key value for social democrats, while 'freedom' and 'individualism' are the fundamental social values of the anti-collectivists. However, terms such as 'equality' denote essentially contestable concepts, meaning different things to different people. Greater specificity is needed to explain more precise meanings. It follows that values must be more clearly defined and linked with goals (see below). In other words, to suggest 'equality' as a value hides more than it reveals since many ideologies would claim to be in favour of some type of equality. Second (and linked to the first point), it is not clear whether the Third Way is concerned with 'old' values, new or redefined meanings of old values, new values or with no values. 32 Blair 33 and Blair and Schröder represent the first position, claiming that the Third Way is concerned with linking traditional values with modern means. According to Blair these traditional values are equal worth, opportunity for all, responsibility and community. Blair and Schröder write that fairness and social justice, liberty and equality of opportunity, solidarity and responsibility to others are timeless values. Social democracy will never sacrifice them. White 34 suggests opportunity, responsibility and community. Le Grand 35 presents the acronym CORA: community, opportunity, responsibility and accountability, while Lister 36 offers RIO: responsibility, inclusion and opportunity. 37 As Driver and Martell 38 sum up, there is broad agreement over Third Way values, but problems emerge over their interpretation and the extent to which they define a Centre-Left political project. Critics point out, however, that terms such as 'equality' are here redefined and diluted. For example, Cammack and Morrison 39 claim that the Third Way appropriates the vocabulary and values of social democracy in the cause of neo-liberalism. Moreover, a few 'new' values appear to have been smuggled in. Positive uses of terms such as 'entrepreneurship' 40 rarely featured in the discourse of traditional social democracy. A conflicting strand of argument stresses a move from ideology or dogma The route map of the Third Way 13 14 The Third Way Table 1.1 Dimensions of the Third Way in social policy Dimension Old social democracy Third way Neo-liberal Discourse Rights Rights and responsibilities Responsibilities Equity Equity and efficiency Efficiency Market failure Market and state failure State failure Values Equality of outcome Inclusion Equality of opportunity Security Positive welfare Insecurity Policy goals Equality of outcome Minimum opportunities Equality of opportunity Full employment Employability Low inflation Policy means Rights Conditionality Responsibilities State Civil society/market Market/civil society State finance and delivery State/private finance and delivery Private/state finance and delivery Security Flexicurity Insecurity Hierarchy Network Market High tax and spend Pragmatic tax to invest Low tax and spend High services and benefits High services and low benefits Low services and benefits High cash redistribution High asset redistribution Low redistribution Universalism Pragmatic mix of universalism and selectivity Selectivity High wages National minimum wage/tax credits Low wages

The Sociological Review, 2002

Nicos Mouzelis has made a welcome intervention into the debate over Third Way theory and politics... more Nicos Mouzelis has made a welcome intervention into the debate over Third Way theory and politics. The strengths of Mouzelis' account are identified as being his incorporation of asymmetrical power relations and institutional imbalances into the theory of reflexive modernization, and his defence of the Left/Right dichotomy. Three interrelated criticisms are then made. The first is of a sociological reductionism which neglects the importance of ideology and politics in bringing about the processes of reflexive modernization underpinning the Third Way. Conversely, the second criticism is that Mouzelis drifts into voluntarism in the form of a conspiracy theory in his account of ‘cultural engineering from the top’ amidst the conditions of reflexive modernity. Further, it is suggested that it is not with regard to achieving ‘cultural rights’ against such top-down engineering that the Left/Right distinction endures, but rather in relation to how the role of the market is analyzed. Thi...

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2007

Social democrats are seeking a project beyond New Labour's dwindling Third Way. In particular... more Social democrats are seeking a project beyond New Labour's dwindling Third Way. In particular, they have seized on the idea of a ‘progressive consensus’ as a means of entrenching a deeper, cultural shift in British society on centre-left terms. This article assesses the potential of social democratic responses to New Labour for fulfilling this task. ‘Traditional’ and ‘modernising’ perspectives are identified, each of which have a positive and critical variant. The critical-modernising approach emerges with the greatest potential for moving beyond the New Labour project. Critical-modernisers operate on the Third Way's analytical terrain—recognising the still-changing operating environment of the centre-left. However, they seek simultaneously to develop a political narrative that is distinct from the Third Way. In order to achieve this latter objective, the normative heritage of more traditional approaches remains a key resource for critical-modernisers, as they seek to show h...

Politics, 2004

The third way is based on both sociological claims about a changed world, and normative propositi... more The third way is based on both sociological claims about a changed world, and normative propositions about appropriate conduct within that world. Four types of claim concerning the relationship between social change and political values are identified within third way advocacy. In each case, the degree of political agency implied is assessed. This ranges from a position which minimises the room for political interventions in the face of social change, to one which gives primacy to the role of political values. A successful third way project, or alternative, needs not only to be grounded in contemporary social change, but also to show how to steer it.

The Political Quarterly, 2005

Policy & Politics, 2014

Behaviour change is increasingly central to policy and politics. The exemplar of nudge, and its r... more Behaviour change is increasingly central to policy and politics. The exemplar of nudge, and its relationship to behavioural economics and psychology, is outlined. Nudge’s claim to libertarian paternalism is evaluated in the context of the neoliberal state. A sociological critique of behavioural economic assumptions enables a still wider account of shifting state–citizen relations. Foucauldian analyses of such relations, as well as deliberative ‘think’ perspectives, are assessed. A more explicitly political, social-democratic model of the behaviour change state is advocated. This would be more attuned to the socioeconomic context of behaviour, and also be prepared to defend citizens against ubiquitous attempts to shape their subjectivity.

Philosophy & Social Criticism, 2013

Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s post-Marxist analysis pushed Gramsci’s anti-determinism to it... more Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s post-Marxist analysis pushed Gramsci’s anti-determinism to its limits, embracing a post-structuralist, discourse-centred politics. Mouffe’s subsequent programme for radical democracy has sought a renewed democratic left project. While radical democracy’s post-structuralism enables important insights into political subjectivity and antagonism in contemporary democracies, it also weakens its own critical and strategic capacity. By recuperating its Gramscian heritage, radical democracy could be more theoretically and politically effective. In contrast to discourses operating in an entirely open and contingent political field, Gramscian theory offers a more realist – but non-determinist – account of the structural, enabling and constraining properties of ideologies. It also allows for a distinctive institutional space for society. Society is the site upon which political identities are articulated, and from which existing power relations are challenge...