Radical Middle Newsletter
Idealism Without Illusions

 

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OUR  CONGRES- SIONAL SCORECARDS:

109th and 110th Congresses (2005-08)

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107th Congress (2001 & 2002)

OUR POLITICAL BOOK AWARD WINNERS:

1980 - 2009, Complete

RESPONSES FROM  OTHERS:

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Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2007

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2006

Feisty E-mails to the Editor, 2005

Feisty Letters to the Editor, 2002-04

Feisty Letters to the Editor, 1999-2001

WHO WE ARE:

About the Editor (In-House Version)

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50 Best “Third Way”
Books of the 1990s

I. INTRODUCTORY NOTE FROM EDITOR MARK SATIN

In the 1990s, a “Third Way” began to emerge: Millions of people began looking for political solutions in that spacious but little-explored terrain between the certainties of the traditional left-and-right, on the one hand, and the utopianism of the alternative culture, on the other.

Tony Giddens of the London School of Economics limned this terrain perfectly when he wrote, “Political life is nothing without ideals, but ideals are empty if they don’t relate to real possibilities” (in The Third Way, listed below).

While some Third Way books engage in glib "triangulation" (between the far left and the far right), or otherwise lack imagination, those we've chosen are genuinely visionary as well as usefully pragmatic.  Radical middle thinkers are committed to learning from everyone, including those on the far left and far right.

You’ll notice a number of books that focus on consciousness, relationships, culture, business, and the professions -- not just politics narrowly defined. That's also a hallmark of the radical middle.  It's a sensibility, not just a type of public policy.

All blue links below will take you to that book's page on Amazon.com.

Books preceded by a star (*) have won one of our annual Radical Middle Political Book Awards; see HERE for an annotated list of all winners from 1980 through 2009.

So, enjoy!

II. THE FIFTY BEST

Anne Alstott and Bruce Ackerman, The Stakeholder Society

Walter Truett Anderson, The Future of the Self: Inventing the Postmodern Person

Daniel Botkin, Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the 21st Century

Gary Burtless et al., Globaphobia: Confronting Fears About Open Trade

Stephen Carter, Civility: Meaning, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy

* Marian Chertow and Daniel Esty, eds., Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy

Joseph Coates, 2025: Scenarios of US and Global Society Reshaped by Science and Technology

J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace (novel; reviewed by us HERE)

* James Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

Diane Coyle, The Weightless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy

//////////

Stanley Crouch, The All-American Skin Game, or, The Decoy of Race

* E.J. Dionne, Why Americans Hate Politics

Peter Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society

Esther Dyson, Release 2.1: A Design for Living in the Digital Age

Gregg Easterbrook, A Moment on the Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism

* Amitai Etzioni, The Spirit of Community: The Reinvention of American Society

* James Fallows, Looking at the Sun: The Rise of the New East Asian Economic and Political System

Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization

* Mark Gerzon, A House Divided: Six Belief Systems Struggling for America's Soul

* Anthony Giddens, The Third Way

//////////

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ

Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability

Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

* David Hollinger, Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism

Richard Kahlenberg, The Remedy: Class, Race, and Affirmative Action

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, World Class: Thriving Locally in the Global Economy

Randall Kennedy, Race, Crime, and the Law

* Art Kleiner, The Age of Heretics: Heroes, Outlaws, and the Forerunners of Corporate Change

John Kotter, Leading Change: An Action Plan from the World's Foremost Expert on Business Leadership

Steven Kull and I. M. Destler, Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism

//////////

Karen Lehrman, The Lipstick Proviso: Women, Sex & Power in the Real World

Robert Jay Lifton, The Protean Self: Human Resilience in an Age of Fragmentation 

Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson, Spiritual Politics: Changing the World from the Inside Out

Martha Nussbaum et al., For Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism

* David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector

Edmund Phelps, Rewarding Work: How to Restore Participation and Self-Support to Free Enterprise

Terrence Real, I Don't Want To Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression

David Roodman, The Natural Wealth of Nations: Harnessing the Market for the Environment

Andrew Schmookler, Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide

Peter Schwartz, The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World

//////////

Peter Schwartz et al., The Long Boom: A Vision for the Coming Age of Prosperity

Michael Segell, Standup Guy: Masculinity That Works

* Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

Michael Sherraden, Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy

Ronald Sider, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America

Jim Sleeper, Liberal Racism: How Liberals Got Race Wrong; How America Can Get It Right

Deborah Tannen, The Argument Culture: Stopping America's War of Words

William Ury, Getting to Peace, now published as The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop

* Alan Wolfe, One Nation, After All: What Americans Really Think . . .

Cathy Young, Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality

III. STILL NOT SATISFIED?

See our picks of the best visionary political books from the 2000s, HERE; from the 1980s, HERE; from the 1970s, HERE.

ABOUT THE RADICAL MIDDLE CONCEPT

WHY "Radical Middle"?

WIKIPEDIA Weighs In

50 Thinkers and Activists DESCRIBE the Radical Middle 

50 Best Radical Middle BOOKS of the '00s

GREAT RADICAL MIDDLE  GROUPS AND BLOGS:

100 Great Radical Centrist GROUPS and  Organizations

25 Great Radical Centrist BLOGS

SOME PRIOR RADICAL MIDDLE INITIATIVES:

Generational Equity and Communitarian platforms 1990s

First U.S. Green Party gatherings, 1987 - 1990

Green Party's "Ten Key Values" statement, 1984

New World Alliance, 1979 - 1983

PDF of  the Alliance's "Transformation Platform," 1981

SOME RADICAL MIDDLE LESSONS:

What the Draft Resistance Movement Taught Me

What the Civil Rights Movement Taught Me

SOME PRIOR  WRITINGS BY MARK SATIN:

New Options Newsletter, 1984-1992 (includes back issue PDFs!)

New Age Politics: Healing Self and Society, 1976,  1978 (includes 1976 text PDF!)

OTHER
PRIOR   RADICAL MIDDLE TEXTS:

50 Best "Third Way" Books of the 1990s

25 Best "Transformational" Books of the 1980s

25 Best "New Age Politics" Books of the 1970s

NOT JUST RADICAL MIDDLE:

10 Best U.S. Political NOVELS

50 Current Political IDEOLOGIES

50 Current Political  MANIFESTOS