Anthony Giddens & Christopher Pierson 
Conversations with Anthony Giddens 
Making Sense of Modernity

Anthony Giddens has been described as ‘the most important English
social philosopher of our time’. Over twenty-five years, and even
more books, he has established himself as the most widely-read and
widely-cited social theorist of his generation. His ideas have
profoundly influenced the writing and teaching of sociology and
social theory throughout the English-speaking world. In recent
years, his writing has become much more explicitly political, and
in 1996 he took up his high-profile appointment as Director of the
London School of Economics and Political Science. It is in this new
position and with these new political ideas that he has been
described as the key intellectual figure of New Labour in Britain.
Following the astonishing success of Labour in the 1997 General
Election, his ideas have been the focus of intense interest.

In this series of extended interviews with Chris Pierson, Giddens
lays out with customary clarity and directness the principal themes
in the development of his social theory and the distinctive
political agenda which he recommends.

This volume will be of great interest to second- and third-year
students in sociology and social theory, politics and political
theory, as well as to the general reader.

Table of Content

Preface.

The Sociology of Anthony Giddens: An Introduction by Martin
O’Brien.

Interview 1: Life and Intellectual Career.

Interview 2: The Sociological Classics and Beyond.

Interview 3: Structuration Theory.

Interview 4: Modernity.

Interview 5: From the Transformation of Intimacy to Life
Politics.

Interview 6: Politics Beyond Left and Right.

Interview 7: World Politics.

Centre Left at Centre Stage.

The Politics of Risk Society.

Beyond Chaos and Dogma.

Risks, Scares, Nightmares.

About the author

Anthony Giddens is Director at the London School of
Economics and Political Science. He was formerly Professor of
Sociology and Fellow of King’s College at the University of
Cambridge.

Christopher Pierson is Professor of Politics at the
University of Nottingham.