The Political Philosophy and Politics of Liberalism: A Basic Bibliography (original) (raw)
Related papers
Introduction: the vicissitudes of liberalism
The Research Handbook on Liberalism, 2024
An introduction to my edited collection, 'A Research Handbook on Liberalism' (Elgar, 2024). The demise of liberalism has been predicted almost since it was born. In this comprehensive review of the current state of the literature on the history and future of liberalism, I identify five types of liberalism in play today and three overarching concerns about its future viability that chapters in the book engage with from different philosophical, methodological, and historical perspectives. (This chapter has been made available as Open Access on the Elgar website here: https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/book/9781839109034/9781839109034.xml)
The Fluidity of Liberalism Gender Norms & Racial Bias in the Study of the Modern "Liberalism"
Self-Publishing, 2023
This research provides a concise examination of the dynamic and diverse nature of liberalism as a political ideology. It traces its historical roots in individual rights, democratic governance, and its pivotal role in significant historical events, such as the Glorious, American, and French Revolutions. The study also highlights liberalism's impact on social and political transformations, including constitutionalism, nationalism, and secularism, while addressing the challenges it has encountered from various ideologies. The term "liberal" is explored in different global contexts, emphasizing its evolution and associations, ranging from New Deal policies in the United States to limited government and laissez-faire economics in Europe. This research delves into key figures like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, who significantly contributed to liberal political thought. The concept of the separation of powers is also examined in connection with liberalism's contributions to the feminist movement and the emergence of anarchocapitalism. Finally, the research carefully examines the intricate interactions between liberalism and various ideologies, emphasizing the complexity of political thought and its enduring impact on governance, societal norms, and individual rights.
BEYOND HAGIOGRAPHY OF LIBERALISM
This paper purports to explore and highlight the ideological nature of liberalism. Its main contention is that the liberal tradition, far from being a bearer of universal freedoms and rights, was a racially and spatially delimited worldview which tended to create a ‘master race democracy’ at the expense of Indigenous populations of Americas, African slaves, servants of metropolitan cities, and native populations of colonized countries. It highlights the paradox at the heart of liberal ideology: chattel slavery, colonialism and liberalism were born at the same time. The countries were liberal revolutions took place were also the countries that were dependant on slavery, colonialism, and imperial exploitation of the non-Euro-American world. It makes a case for a mature critique of liberalism so as to go beyond hagiographic studies of liberal political tradition that usually permeate the mainstream scholarship on liberalism. It is only by recognizing its limitations that we can use its positive force to make the world a better place to live in.
"What is Liberalism?" Political Theory, Vol. 42, no. 6 (2014)
Liberalism is a term employed in a dizzying variety of ways across the humanities and social sciences. This essay seeks to reframe how the liberal tradition is understood. I start by delineating different types of response – prescriptive, comprehensive, explanatory – that are frequently conflated in answering the question “what is liberalism?” I then discuss assorted methodological strategies employed in the existing literature: after rejecting “stipulative” and “canonical” approaches, I outline a contextualist alternative. On this (comprehensive) account, liberalism is best characterised as the sum of the arguments that have been classified as liberal, and recognised as such by other self-proclaimed liberals, over time. In the remainder of the article I present an historical analysis of shifts in the meaning of liberalism in Anglo-American political thought between 1850 and 1950, focusing in particular on how John Locke came to be seen as a liberal. I also explore the emergence of the category of "liberal democracy". I argue that the scope of the liberal tradition was massively expanded during the middle decades of the twentieth century, such that it came to be seen by many as the constitutive ideology of the West. This capacious (and deeply confusing) understanding of liberalism was produced by a conjunction of the ideological wars fought against “totalitarianism” and assorted developments in the social sciences. Today we both inherit and inhabit it.
https://aeon.co/essays/reports-of-the-demise-of-liberalism-are-greatly-exaggerated The many deaths of liberalism The essay, co-written with Daniel H. Cole, examines the rhetoric of the announced death or failure of liberalism in historical perspective. It draws, among others, on Ortega y Gasset, Karl Popper, Judith Shklar, Albert Hirschman, J. G. Merquior, and Alan Ryan's ideas. The essay argues that although liberal societies have not always lived up to these principles, which in some respects are always aspirational, it cannot be denied that political societies based on liberal principles have been more successful, on almost any measure, than regimes that are more authoritarian, or sectarian.