Freedom from Fear: An Incomplete History of Liberalism - Softcover

Kahan, Alan S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691250677 ISBN 13: 9780691250670

Verlag: Princeton University Press, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

A provocative new history of liberalism that also provides a road map for today’s liberals

Freedom from Fear offers a striking new account of the dominant political and social theory of our time: liberalism. In a pathbreaking reframing of the historical debate, Alan Kahan charts the development of Western liberalism from the late eighteenth century to the present. Examining key liberal thinkers and issues, Kahan shows how liberalism is both a response to fear and a source of hope: the search for a world in which no one need be afraid.

Freedom from Fear reveals how liberal arguments typically rely on three pillars: freedom, markets, and morals. But when liberals ignore one or more of these pillars, their arguments generally fail to persuade. Extending from Adam Smith and Montesquieu to today’s battles between liberals and populists, the book examines the twists and turns of the “incomplete” or unfinished liberal tradition while demonstrating its fundamental continuity. It combines fresh accounts of familiar figures such as Tocqueville and Rawls with discussions of less-famous but pivotal thinkers such as A. V. Dicey and Jane Addams, and explores how liberals have dealt with crucial issues, from debates over male and female suffrage to colonialism and liberal anti-Catholicism.

By transforming our understanding of the history of liberal thought and practice, Freedom from Fear provides a new picture of the political creed today: the paths liberals need to follow, the questions they need to answer, and the dead ends they must avoid—if they are to win.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Alan S. Kahan is Professor of British Civilization at the Université Paris-Saclay. His many books include Tocqueville, Democracy, and Religion; Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century Europe; and Aristocratic Liberalism.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Princeton University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0691250677
• ISBN 13: 9780691250670
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 528
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Princeton University Press; https://press.princeton.edu/books; ; 7th Floor, New South Building; PRINCETON; NJ; 8544; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar