Liberalism and Socialism: Mortal Enemies or Embittered Kin?

Description

In times of pandemic and global economic crisis, little more than a decade after the last, there are serious questions about how the liberal order can stand, who its friends are, and what the future will look like.  This edited collection provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and stakes at play in the dispute between liberalism and socialism.  It explores the 21st century appeal of socialism, particularly to millennials and other relatively young citizens, and shows why modern classical liberalism and neoliberalism have generated tepid support, leading to the resurgence of socialism after it was thought dead and buried due to the dramatic failures of statist models in 1989. The authors put modern socialism and liberalism into renewed dialogue with another to examine whether the two can coexist peacefully, or even reach an overlapping consensus on social reform going forward.  It delves into the history and theory of both liberalism and socialism to determine points of overlap and tension, in addition to a cross-disciplinary interpretive analysis of the present epoch to determine how both traditions have evolved since the 20th century.  The book is interdisciplinary and provides a broad array of perspectives including a diversity of ideological perspectives ranging from committed Marxists to libertarians. It will be of interest to academics and students in economics and contemporary political culture. Acknowledgements Introduction Contents Notes on Contributors List of Tables Law and Rights in Contemporary Liberalism and Socialism What Does It Mean to Say All Are Created Equal?: Liberalism and Socialism on Basic Rights Introduction Part I: Liberalism and Liberal Rights Classical Liberal Rights and Negative Freedom The Declaration of Independence Egalitarian Liberalism and the Rights of the Least Well Off Part II: Socialism and Rights Discourse Socialism, the Left, and Liberal Rights Roberto Unger, The Left Alternative Arguing for Liberal Socialism as the Fulfilment of Substantive and Social Freedom Conclusion Bibliography The Conceptual Case for Law as Integrity in Malaysia Introduction Integrity and Fidelity to Law Integrity, Illiberal Law and Authoritarian Settings Conceptual Error Social Compromise and Integrity The Basic Structure of the Malaysian Constitution Conclusion Bibliography Apostle of Progress, Harbinger of Hope: John Stuart Mill and the British Political Tradition Introduction John Stuart Mill The British Political Tradition The Concept of a Tradition Three Streams of Thought Competitive Pluralism Mill in the Context of the British Political Tradition Mill, Oakeshott, and Orwell Heightened Plasticity and Its Practical Pressures Conclusions The Political Theory of Liberalism and Socialism in the 21st Century Can Socialism Allow Open Borders? Socialism Cannot Allow Open Borders and Is Therefore Unjust Defining “Open Borders” Defining “Socialism” The Liberal, Egalitarian, Sufficientarian, Welfarist Case for Open Borders Rights as Hooks: Capitalism and Openness Socialism and Collective Decision-Making The Socialist Nation is a House Socialism and the Problem of Openness Voting and Democracy Berlin Walls Conclusion Marx Was a (Philosophical) Liberal and You Should Be Too Liberalism, Liberalism, Liberalism, and Marxism What Kinds of Liberals Can (and Should) Contemporary Socialists Be? Conclusion: Don’t Leave Liberalism to the Liberals Bibliography The Social Empowerment of Equal Chances: Sortition as a Democratic Bridge Between Liberalism and Socialism Socialism and Socialist Values The Problem of Electoral Politics Sortition Explained and Justified Justifications: Democratic and Socialist Values Responding to Common Objections Competence Accountability Sortition: Liberal and Socialist Socialism Liberalism Conclusion Bibliography Liberalism, Socialism, and Culture Disambiguating “Critical Theory” Introduction Strategies and Affordances of the Heavy-Lifting Term The Frankfurt School and “Cultural Marxism” Critical Race Theory and “Critical Theory” in Literary Study Conclusion From Liberal to Leftist Ecopolitics: Searching for Common Ground Between Capitalism and Climate The Paradox of Liberal Environmentalism Scope and Character From Reformist to Revolutionary Environmentalism The New Discourses of Ecopolitics Bibliography The Problem of Woke Capitalism Introduction Woke Capitalism and the Culture Industry Woke Capitalism in Advertising and Politics Conclusion The Liberal Media Would Rather Support a Populist Than a Socialist Introduction The “Propaganda Model” and the “Liberal Media” Anti-Communism Was a Popular Ideology and It Still Is The Liberal Media Cannot Get Enough of Trump The Liberal Media Declares War on Sanders The Liberal Media’s Obsession with Bernie Bros The Liberal Media and the Horseshoe Theory Conclusion Bibliography Index