Reflexive Modernization and Reconstructing the Third Way: A Response to Mouzelis

Nicos Mouzelis has made a welcome intervention into the debate over Third Way theory & politics. The strengths of Mouzelis's account are identified as his incorporation of asymmetrical power relations & institutional imbalances into the theory of reflexive modernization & his defens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Sociological review (Keele) 2002-08, Vol.50 (3), p.417-436
Main Author: Leggett, Will
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Giddens, Anthony
Labour Party
Market economies
Market Economy
Modernization
Mouzelis, Nicos
Planning
Politics
Power
Reductionism
Reflexivity
Social
Social Planning
Theoretical Problems
Third Way
Voluntarism
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Summary:Nicos Mouzelis has made a welcome intervention into the debate over Third Way theory & politics. The strengths of Mouzelis's account are identified as his incorporation of asymmetrical power relations & institutional imbalances into the theory of reflexive modernization & his defense of the Left/Right dichotomy. Three interrelated criticisms are made: (1) A sociological reductionism neglects the importance of ideology & politics in bringing about the processes of reflexive modernization underpinning the Third Way. Conversely (2) Mouzelis drifts into voluntarism in the form of a conspiracy theory in his account of "cultural engineering from the top" amid 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. (3) At the level of institutional differentiation & power relations, Mouzelis underestimates the extent to which market logic is able to "colonize" other spheres of social life, & his regulatory proposals are insufficient to address this. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0038-0261