Enhancing occupational opportunities in communities: Politics’ third way and the concept of the enabling state

Globalisation has brought with it widespread social change and far reaching impacts, not least of all upon patterns of occupational participation in communities around the world. In order to understand such impacts, the agenda of occupational science needs to include focussed enquiry that extends beyond an individualistic perspective. The agenda requires a systematic and critical analysis of those structural responses that, in concert with the processes of globalisation, either facilitate or constrain occupational participation rates. This article argues that the examination of economic and political models is central to developing such enquiry and presents the core tenets of a new political model, the so-called “Third Way”. This is done alongside an exploration of the concept of the “Enabling State” that has emerged from the Third Way's distinctive approach to governance and community capacity building. © 2003, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.