Krishna Gyawali

"In February 1998, following a policy seminar with the American leadership in Washington, Tony Blair spoke of his ambition to create an international consensus of the centre-left for the twenty-first century". Thus begins the inaugural chapter, Socialism and After, of this five-section treatise by Anthony Giddens. A powerful proponent of the contemporary thought-stream of the centre-left, Giddens is currently the Director of the London School of Economics, and has authored over thirty books on sociology and politics as a long-time Cambridge professor. He was a staunch backer of Blair's "New Labour New Britain" campaign, and is frequently referred to in the press as Blair's ideological guru. This latest book from him again advocates social democracy from a renewed perspective.

Now what is that new approach, the 'third way' or 'social democracy with renewal' through which Tony Blair would like to drive the world politically in the approaching millennium? Giddens tries to answer this by quoting David Marquand's article "The Blair Paradox" published in Prospect last year: while the old left registered profound resistance to the change appearing in the global order, the new right seemed utterly reluctant to manage and balance such change. So the social democrats have to manage that change in order to produce solidarity, order and justice in the global political and economic system so that prosperity would reach millions of those cruelly pushed out of the market mainstream by its ultra-right competitive forces and equally neglected by the leftist neo-power elites born in the name of the proletarian poor.

Giddens wrote this book to re-examine the future of social democratic politics in the global context and particularly in the Anglo-European context, and has reached a firm conclusion that social democracy can not only survive but prosper both on ideological and practical footings, provided social democrats opt for a 'third way', discarding both extremes: the old-left socialism of Marx and the new-right conservatism clothed in Thatcherism or Reaganomics. To be precise, this 'third way' seems to be a doctrine, fathered by leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, to demonstrate a distinct ideological departure from the policies of their predecessors. But, as the author says, it is also inspired by the "continental social democracies", especially Scandinavia.

At a time when political ideas seem to have lost their capacity to inspire, and political leaders their ability to lead, the book seeks to drive home the point that political life is nothing without ideals, and ideas are empty if divorced from real possibilities. The author asserts the 'third way' to be such an 'idea' best suited to explore and realise the real possibilities of our time. It would save us not only from both the extremes of the political spectrum, but also warn us of the limitations of the more moderate versions of those extremes, i.e. "classical social democracy (reformist or old left)" characterised by such attributes as state intervention in the public sphere, state's domination over civil society, 'linear' modernisation and social 'levelling' through radical measures on the one hand and "neo-liberalism or the new right" marked by such elements as hostility to 'big government', de-statism, autonomous civil society and market fundamentalism, on the other. The author compares both doctrines in light of their ideological standings as well as practical applications world-wide, refers to the recent debate vis-a-vis the old left and the new centre-left against the backdrop of the dismantling of the Soviet Union and its satellites, and then examines the fate of social democracy against the 'post-materialist' outlook as popularised by the political scientist Ronald Inglehart.

The second chapter entitled Five Dilemmas delves into five basic issues concerning the correct understanding and application of the notion of social democracy. Issues such as globalisation along with its meaning and implications, individualism and the magnitude of its penetration into modern societies, the perceived meaninglessness of the notion of left and right, political agencies deserting democratic mechanisms, and the need for integrating ecological problems into social democratic politics have been elaborately dealt with. There is also an interesting discussion on the detrimental impact that new individualism is supposed to be having on common values and public concerns by creating a 'me' generation and 'me-first' society. Left and right with their varied manifestations have been defined at great length. A concluding note has then been made to suggest that 'third way' politics should aim to help citizens cope with the side-effects of globalisation, that it should never identify globalisation with a blanket endorsement of free trade, that it should preserve a core concern with social justice, and that there should be no rights without responsibilities and no authority without democracy.

State and Civil Society, chapter three, makes truly irresistible reading. Here the deepening and widening of democracy through the reconstruction of the state rather than through its shrinking and expansion has been strongly argued for. The author convincingly suggests that it is this new democratic state ("the state without enemies") that cures the vices of a coercive state. "Democracy needs to further democratise itself" through greater devolution, transparency, accountability and good governance to remedy its own illnesses. David Osborne and Ted Gaebler's book Reinventing Government which influenced Clinton's policies in the early 1990s has been rightly quoted to make a strong plea for effective government. The role of an active civil society with the state as a trusted partner and also with community regeneration and democratic family (defined as having emotional and sexual equality, mutual respect, shared decision-making, freedom from violence, co-parenting, etc.) has been duly highlighted in the context that it alone can consolidate a democratic state.

The Social Investment State puts emphasis on government's role in investing in human resources and infrastructure needed to develop an entrepreneurial culture. Equality has been redefined as inclusion and inequality as exclusion, departing thus from the commonplace notion of "equality of opportunity and meritocracy". Social democrats should enter into the Global Age to find themselves a new role in a cosmopolitan world, understood as a global village having fuzzier borders and cultural pluralism. This is what chapter four suggests in extended detail.

The book ends with a strong note of optimism. Establishing an Economic Security Council within the United Nations has been strongly argued for, thus reminding readers of a similar suggestion made two years ago by the former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sridath Ramphal in a report on global governance. Concern has also been shown on reducing both world economic inequality and ecological risk. Unnecessary scaremongering as well as unjust complacency have both been ridiculed, and a case has been made for creating a world that combines stability, equity and prosperity.

One sincerely wishes, however, that such a scholarly work of immense value by a pragmatic academic were made 'flawless' to its best. On an ideological plank, issue of relationship or, for that matter, distinction between social democracy and democratic socialism has found no mention at all nor has there been given deserved reference to the evolution of socialist democratic movement - under organisations like the Socialist International, for example, promoted by leaders ranging from Europe's Willy Brandt to Asia's U Nu, Ram Manohar Lohia and B. P. Koirala. Similarly, SAARC finds no place in the list of regional groupings. Although the author admits to having made the UK the book's main point of reference, this is clearly tilted, thus showing an overtly Western or even British-Labour-Blair-bias. Furthermore, the book is of no help in giving a theoretical basis to understand the exacalating onslaught of ultra-left movements; it also offers little for explaining the growth of leftist parties in emerging democracies like ours.

Yet, these 'flaws' are perhaps relatively insignificant to belittle the value of this very rich work. Overall, it calls for a compulsory reading by not only the advocates of social democracy, but also general readers interested in contemporary political discourses.

(K. Gyawali is an Under-Secretary at the Cabinet Secretariat)