ENGLISH

Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism. Marx and Normative Social Theory in the Twenty-First Century

By Tony Smith

Book information

Publisher
BRILL
Year
2018
ISBN
9004352279, 9789004352278, 9789004352292
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
1 MB (1440953 bytes)
Series
Historical Materialism Book Series, 142
Pages
390\389
Topic
Other Social Sciences
Time added
2018-04-24 20:17:49
Critical TheoryegalitarianismKarl MarxLiberalismmarxismmaterialismSocial SciencesSocial TheorySocialism

Description

Progressive theorists and activists insist that contemporary capitalism is deeply flawed from a normative point of view. However, most accept the liberal egalitarian thesis that the serious shortcomings of market societies (financial excess, inequality, and so on) could be overcome with proper political regulation. Building on Marx's legacy, Tony Smith argues in Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism that advocates of this thesis (Rawls, Habermas, Stiglitz, et al.) lack an adequate concept of capital and the state. These theorists also fail to comprehend new developments in world history ensuring that the 'destructive' aspects of capitalism increasingly outweigh whatever 'creative' elements it might continue to possess. Smith concludes that a normative social theory adequate to the twenty-first century must explicitly and unequivocally embrace socialism.

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