Why the Third Way failed: Economics, morality and the origins of the 'Big Society'

In the wake of the economic crash, public policy is in search of a new moral compass. This book explains why the Third Way's combination of market-friendly and abstract, value-led principles has failed, and shows what is needed for an adequate replacement as a political and moral project. It criticises the economic analysis on which the Third Way approach to policy was founded and suggests an alternative to its legalistic and managerial basis for the regulation of social relations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Part one: A moral order?: Value, virtue and justice; Snap judgments and rational choices; Nature, science and cosmology; Part two: Regulation and relationsship: What is economics good for?; Moral regulation; In search of a moral compass; Part three: The policy response: Sharing wealth, income and work; Sustaining the quality of life; Conclusions.

About the Author :
Bill Jordan is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Plymouth.He has held visiting chairs in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Slovakia and Hungary. He worked for 20 years in the UK social services, and is the author of 27 books on social policy, social theory, politics and social work.

Review :
"Bill Jordan has long been an outstanding social worker and social policy writer. In this profound book, he argues that New Labour has over-regulated welfare and even made parts of it a tool of oppression. Scholarly yet dynamic reading. " Bob Holman, Universities of Glasgow and Swansea and voluntary neighbourhood worker "What is particularly uplifting about this book is that it could be read positively from within any of our three major political parties, which means that it has the potential to generate a common mind on how future social policy should be shaped." Citizen's Income Newsletter "Bill Jordan's command of history and science, philosophy and economics, puts him in a unique position to provide a compelling critique of the Third Way. His engaging analysis of the moral and contractual regulation that underlies the current Zeitgeist is a necessary read for tomorrow's politicians, as well as for tomorrow's voters." Amir Paz-Fuchs, Ono Academic College, Israel "An incisive analysis by one of Britain's leading social theorists, this book explains why Third Way policies to regulate capitalism went in the wrong direction. Jordan's central question -- how to combine and balance economic and moral regulation -- should trigger public debate about the nature of a good society and the extent to which it is advanced by the normative message of welfare state policies that elevate employment and individual responsibility above all else." Neil Gilbert, Chernin Professor of Social Welfare, Co-Director Center for Child and Youth Policy University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California 94720