Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (b. Edmonton, London, January 18, 1938) is a British social scientist who is renowned for his theory of structuration.

Giddens was director of the London School of Economics and Political Science until 2003 and a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research. He is an advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Both Giddens and Blair support the "third way" political approach. He was given a life peerage in June 2004, as Baron Giddens, of Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield and sits in the House of Lords for Labour.

Giddens' ambition is both to recast social theory and to re-examine our understanding of the development and trajectory of modernity. He gave the 1999 BBC Reith Lectures, on the topic of "The Runaway World", reflections on globalisation, available here. His work on modernity and self-identity is explained, and expanded into the area of media and gender identities, in the book Media Gender and Identity by David Gauntlett.

Select Bibliography

• Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971)
• The Constitution of Society (1984)
• The Consequences of Modernity (1991)
• Modernity and Self-Identity (1991)
• The Transformation of Intimacy (1992)
• Living in the Post-Traditional Society in Reflexive Modernization (1994) with Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash
• Beyond Left and Right — the Future of Radical Politics (1994)
• The Third Way (1998)

External links

• More of Anthony Giddens' publications from LSE
• The Anthony Giddens trading card
• Resources at Theory.org.uk