The Meaning of Liberalism
East and West
Edited by Jirí Musil, Charles University, Prague,
the Central European University, Budapest and Director
of the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of
Sciences and Zdenek Suda, University of Pittsburgh.
"The book is a valuable publication. a great help for
the on-going discussion on the transformation of Eastern
societies."
- Bernhard Schaffers, University of Karlsruhe,
Germany
"...liberals and non-liberals alike - whether
from Eastern Europe, Western Europe, or Mars - have
much to learn from this fascinating book." - Millenium
The Meaning of Liberalism provides a new perspective
on the continuing debate about how liberalism should
be defined and what it means in countries with an established
parliamentary system, particularly in the new democracies
of Central and Eastern Europe.
The key question this book addresses is: will the specific
experience of communism and its aftermath give birth
to a new distinct current of liberal thought, or will
it simply enlarge the scope of the Western liberal debate?
The authors argue that liberalism cannot be reduced
merely to private property and market prices, but needs
a very complex set of institutions and corresponding
law.
Contributors come from both sides of the former Iron
Curtain and they highlight the richness and diversity
of liberalism and discuss different perceptions of liberal
thinking in the East and West in the post-modern world.
Contents
Foreword. Introduction. Part 1. Contemporary
State of Liberal Theory: Citizenship & moral individuality,
Liberal values, Liberal guilt & the disaster for politics,
Liberalism, value & social cohesion, Value of liberalism
Part 2. Liberalism in the West: Limits & the
crisis of liberal politics, Social & cultural problems
in contemporary Europe, Two dilemmas of liberalism,
Above all we must protect the civil roof, German difficulties
with liberalism Part 3. Liberalism in the East:
Can weak-state liberalism survive?, Neoliberalism, post-communist
transformation & civil society, Law, traditionalism
& liberalism in practice, Constitutional transformation
in post-communist Central Europe Part 4. Difficult
Fate of Liberalism in Eastern & Central Europe: Burdens
of the past, Liberalism in Central Europe after 1989
2000
280 pages
ISBN 978-963-9116-53-5 cloth $49.95 / €42.95 / £33.00
ISBN 978-963-9116-54-2 paperback $22.95 / €19.95 /
£15.99
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