Rethinking Liberty before Liberalism

Hannah Dawson editor Annelien De Dijn editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:3rd Feb '22

£22.99

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Rethinking Liberty before Liberalism cover

Reflects on histories of freedom and republicanism through a major new reappraisal of Quentin Skinner's Liberty before Liberalism.

Offers new histories of freedom and republicanism by reflecting on the enduring significance of Quentin Skinner's ground-breaking Liberty Before Liberalism. The volume reveals the neo-Roman conception of liberty that Skinner unearthed as a normative and historical tool of enormous power, and concludes with a major reappraisal by Skinner himself.Opens up new histories of freedom and republicanism by building on Quentin Skinner's ground-breaking Liberty before Liberalism nearly twenty five years after its initial publication. Leading historians and philosophers reveal the neo-Roman conception of liberty that Skinner unearthed as a normative and historical hermeneutic tool of enormous, ongoing power. The volume thinks with neo-Romanism to offer reinterpretations of individual thinkers, such as Montaigne, Grotius and Locke. It probes the role of neo-Roman liberty within hierarchies and structures beyond that of citizen and state – namely, gender, slavery, and democracy. Finally, it reassesses the relationships between neo-Romanism and other languages in the history of political thought: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and the human rights tradition. The volume concludes with a major reappraisal by Skinner himself.

'Rethinking Liberty Before Liberalism succeeds magnificently as a tribute to the achievement of Liberty Before Liberalism, as a substantive contribution to the history of political thought, and as an addition to the corpus of political philosophy itself.' David Armitage, University of Harvard
'The internationally reputed scholars brought together in this volume both appraise and contribute to the extraordinarily fertile discussions that followed the publication of Quentin Skinner's text twenty years ago. An outstanding volume, beautifully curated and introduced by its editors, and likely to become a point of reference in the field.' Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford
'Each chapter of the volume offers a distinctive perspective on neo-Roman liberty, exploring it in familiar and less familiar historical contexts. Together, they demonstrate its centrality in the history of political thought and pay fine tribute to Quentin Skinner's retrieval of this pivotal aspect of our intellectual heritage.' Markku Peltonen, Society
'As someone who has had Liberty before Liberalism on my syllabus for a few years now, I cannot but welcome a new publication aimed at rethinking Skinner's book … The new volume has a lot to offer to those who developed a thirst for an intellectual sequel after reading the original work.' Evgeny Roshchin, Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory

ISBN: 9781108948395

Dimensions: 228mm x 151mm x 17mm

Weight: 450g

330 pages