Globalisation, ‘EU-Isation’ and the Space for Social Democratic Alternatives: Pessimism of the Intellect: A Reply to Coates
| Date | 01 October 2002 |
| Author | Colin Hay |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-856X.00088 |
| Published date | 01 October 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
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© Political Studies Association 2002. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF and
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Globalisation, ‘EU-isation’ and the space
for social democratic alternatives:
pessimism of the intellect: a reply to Coates
COLIN HAY
It is a considerable pleasure to be invited to respond to a review of one’s
own work which is as sensitive and exhaustive as that presented by David
Coates in issue 3:3 of this journal.1Sparing his blushes, it is perhaps
important to state clearly at the outset my opinion that his own work on
the politics and political economy of the British Labour party (new and
old alike), global capitalism and models of capitalist development is itself
a model of theoretical consistency and empirical rigour which those who
follow in its path can only aspire to emulate (see, for instance, Coates
1975, 1980, 1989 and 2000; Coates and Lawler 2000). As a consequence,
I take his criticisms particularly seriously. Though undoubtedly born of a
certain sympathy they are none the less fundamental, raising a series of
crucial issues which will no doubt continue to divide commentators on
New Labour, including the three protagonists in this particular ‘debate’.
That having been said, it is perhaps equally important to state at the outset
that, though significant, the bases of our disagreements over the interpre-
tation of the Labour Party’s projection of a ‘Third Way’ or ‘modernising’
agenda from the Party to the British economy and from the British
economy to the European (and perhaps, global) economy are, in the end,
modest.2Indeed, after a term in office, our (pessimistic) conclusions are
not perhaps as divergent as he at times suggests (for evidence of which,
British Journal of Politics and International Relations,
Vol. 4, No. 3, October 2002, pp. 452–464
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