Giddens and Blair - Liquidating Social Democracy

The Liquidationist Agenda				socialism which envisaged a gradual cultural
Gazing around the world today, the 'old' social				struggle for socialism rather than a Bolshevist
democracy appears to be dying, while some claim				insurrectionary seizure of power. Such strategies,
that a 'new' social democracy is struggling to be				in turn, led into the Eurocommunist movement,
born. All over the developed world there seems				and the radical political economy movement of
to have arisen a new paradigm: one characterised				British Labour in the 70s, spearheaded by the likes
by an unprecedented narrowing of the political				of Stuart Holland. The Swedish model of socialism,
field, whereby what little choice offered to voters				epitomised by democratic wage earner funds,
boils down to either neo-liberalism, or otherwise				saturation levels of unionization and a universalistic
'neo-liberalism with a human face'. Amidst all this				welfare state, can also be seen as part of this
upheaval no individual has so come to epitomise				now neglected radical 'Third Road'. The old politics
the political moment as has British Prime Minister,				of the 'Third Road' concerned themselves with
Tony Blair. Indeed, Blair and prominent British				fundamental (ie: qualitative) social change. They
sociologist, Anthony Giddens have emerged as				concerned themselves with the democratization
the Siamese twins of the 'New Labour' new				of the economy and the state apparatus. They
order, one presenting the 'face' of 'New Labour' to				sought to counter the ever growing power of
world, the other turning from otherwise fruitful				monopoly capital with selective socialization,
explorations of social theory to become the prime				collective capital mobilization and redistribution,
source of intellectual legitimation for what has				industry plans and global solidarity. They pursued
come to be termed as 'The Third Way'.				full employment, media diversification, and
This 'Third Way', as theorised by Giddens and				universal provision of education and health care.
practiced by Blair, claims to steer a course half				They sought reforms, backed through massive
way in between traditional social democracy and				cultural and social mobilization, which would deliver
neo-liberalism. Giddens has referred to this as 'the				qualitative change. Exploding the tradition
renewal of social democracy' and the 'radical				opposition of reform and revolution, they sought
centre'. The name of the first chapter of Giddens'				reforms of truly revolutionary dimensions.
highly influential book, 'The Third Way' says it all.				Unfortunately, this radical challenge of the Left
Titled 'After Socialism', the implication is obvious.				came to a head during the early 1980s, ending in
(Giddens, p 3) Socialism, according to Giddens,				bitter defeat. The French Socialists stalled after an
therefore, is dead, and traditional social democracy				original burst of success.
shares with it a common grave. If these traditions				Swedish Prime Minister, Olaf Palme was
enjoy anything of an afterlife, Giddens sets				assassinated and the radical Meidner wage earner
himself the task of efficiently exorcising those				funds were capped at 10% of the stock
troubling ghosts. Ideology, by this reckoning is also				exchange. Meanwhile, British Labour effectively
dead, not in the Marxian sense, but in the sense				self-destructed. And while the Hawke-Keating
that capitalism has come to be considered an				Labor governments were happy to impose wage
absolute: invisible and impervious to criticism.				restraint upon unions, commitments on extending
The 'Third Way' programme advocated by				the social wage soon evaporated into thin air.
Giddens as an alternative to these allegedly				The 'death knell' of socialism was proclaimed by
defunct traditions is at once politically 'safe' and, in				many with the collapse of the USSR. This theme,
many ways, populist. 'Cosmopolitanism', 'welfare				repeated like a mantra throughout the media, and
modernisation', and a vague concept of 'social				even through ostensibly 'left' journals, led to total
inclusion' (Giddens, p 69) comprise its core. What				demoralisation and the collapse of radical
is more, despite a supposed commitment to				alternatives.
'double democratisation', democracy is notably				Understanding the moment better than their
absent from the economy, the unquestioned				opponents, Blair and his ilk cynically exploited the
dominance of globalising capital being taken as a				modern fascination with 'intellectual fashion' and
given which is 'not to be questioned'. In the sphere				what we might refer to as the 'cult of the new'.
of the economy, Blair's strategy is very revealing:				Thus 'New' Labour was born and, along with it, the
resembling an attempt to neutralise Thatcherism				ostensibly 'new' Third Way ideology. Finding eager
by internalising rather than negating it. 'The				supporters of his programme for ideological
forward march of labour', therefore, has not				liquidation in the British media, Blair and New
recommenced. British Labour is not only on the				Labour were swept into office. Before too long
defensive: it is in a state of ideological liquidation. In				already despairing leftists were treated to the
'New Labour-speak' this is called 'claiming the				spectacle of Tony Blair admitting his support for
Centre'. Of course, what remains unsaid in this				elements of the Thatcherite agenda. Into this
little populist quip is that 'the Centre' is always				potentially dangerous ground, however, moved
relative. Those with real power do not have to				Giddens, pacifying those pseudo-intellectual middle
'claim' the Centre - they define it.				class Labour supporters with his now-famous
Additionally, the kind of 'reciprocity in welfare'				tour-de-force, 'The Third Way - The Renewal of
urged by Giddens has led, ultimately, to punitive				Social Democracy'. At once promising everything
welfare. Clinton's support of a two year limit on				and nothing, Giddens argued a means of 'social
welfare payments stands in stark contrast to his				democratic renewal' which, in reality, facilitated the
failure to secure meaningful health care reform.				liquidation of the very tradition it claimed to
Such issues are adroitly evaded by Giddens,				invigorate.
presumably out of artifice, not ignorance.				Alternatives to Liquidation
According to Giddens, "the issue isn't more				It is a sign of the utter lack of direction of the
government or less, but recognising that				modern Left in Australia, Britain and elsewhere,
governance must adjust to the new				that some of its leading spokespeople are now
circumstances of the global age." (Giddens, p72)				openly embracing Giddens's 'Third Way'. There is,
This is 'code' for 'downsizing' government as part				however, an alternative. That alternative is to
of the overall global process by which the				return to the radical principles of the original 'Third
capitalist economy has been radically restructured.				Road' movements, resurrecting the radical critique
The relation between 'social inclusiveness' and				of monopoly capitalism, and reinitiating the debate
small government, where 'small government' can				on economic democracy. That alternative is to
no longer afford the most basic of infrastructure,				reassert the principles of universalism insofar as
let alone the support of vibrant and equitable				they apply to the social democratic welfare state,
public education and health systems, is terrain that				to capture and radicalize the debate on citizenship,
is also conveniently untraversed.				and to posit the possibility of socialist globalization
(nb: the cost of this is evident, for instance, in the				as an alternative to globalizing capital. That
Victorian Citylink private tollway project, which				alternative is to pursue an intellectual renaissance
cost $2b to build, but will cost motorists a				within the Left, with the aim, once more, of
staggering $4 billion before reverting to public				setting the agenda rather than responding to it.
ownership)				That alternative is to start encouraging
Although Giddens portrays his 'Third Way' as new				co-operation and exchange across the arbitrary
and topical, its combination of authoritarianism and				boundaries of social movements and political
pseudo-liberalism is far from new. Far from				parties, this with the aim of building what Gramsci
representing 'the renewal of social democracy',				called a 'counter hegemonic historic bloc': a broad
the politics advocated by Giddens and his eager				social/political alliance capable of making effective
student, Tony Blair marks its liquidation. Stripped				cultural interventions, and winning qualitative
of its commitment to the socialized mixed				change.
economy, economic democracy, a radically				The world has changed since the Left's last great
redistributive welfare state and justly progressive				worldwide political defeat.
taxation, there is nothing left to distinguish social				It will take hard work and determination to
democracy from liberalism.				reclaim a viable alternative agenda that goes
Despite its flaws, however, the kind of agenda				beyond ingenuous liquidationism. It will take a
advocated by Giddens and Blair has an				cultural struggle with the aim of reclaiming the
undoubtable appeal for those who prefer to retain				Left's identity and language. It means responding
a sense of social responsibility without any of the				to the reality of globalizing capital, but without
more controversial political commitments				mistaking this process as 'natural', 'unstoppable' or
necessary to bring reality into line with rhetoric.				'without agency'. It means revising leftist theory
Third Ways - Old and New				to take account of new realities, without
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the term				abandoning the radical values or content which
'third way' referred usually to those paths				were always at its core. The possibility of a
between Bolshevism and Right social democracy.				counter-hegemonic response is real. It just
The Italian Communist Party, for instance,				remains to be seen whether the Left is up to the
pioneered the 'Third Road' ('Terza Via') to				task.