Kernohan argues that a liberal state committed to moral equality must accept a strong role in reforming our cultural environment.

How should we approach the daunting task of renewing the ideal of equality? In this book, Christine Sypnowich proposes a theory of equality centred on human flourishing or wellbeing. She argues that egalitarianism should be understood as seeking to make people more equal in the constituents of a good life. Inequality is a social ill because of the damage it does to human flourishing: unequal distribution of wealth can have the effect that some people are poorly housed, badly nourished, ill-educated, unhappy or uncultured, among other things. When we seek to make people more equal our concern is not just resources or property, but how people fare under one distribution or another. Ultimately, the best answer to the question, ‘equality of what?,’ is some conception of flourishing, since whatever policies or principles we adopt, it is flourishing that we hope will be more equal as a result of our endeavours. Sypnowich calls for both retrieval and innovation. What is to be retrieved is the ideal of equality itself, which is often assumed as a background condition of theories of justice, yet at the same time, dismissed as too homogenising, abstract and rigid a criterion for political argument. We must retrieve the ideal of equality as a central political principle. In doing so, she casts doubt on the value of focussing on cultural difference, and rejects the idea of neutrality that dominates contemporary political philosophy in favour of a view of the state as enabling the betterment of its citizens.

The tension between diversity and equality is central to debates about multiculturalism, self-determination, identity, and pluralism. How, for example, can the claims of ethnic and religious groups be respected when they conflict with individual rights and liberal equality? Diversity and Equality critically examines the challenge of protecting rights in diverse societies such as Canada. It develops new approaches in philosophy, law, politics, and anthropology to address the goals and problems associated with cultural, religious, and national minority rights. The contributors to this volume explore the conflicts between group demands for cultural autonomy and individual assertions of basic interests. At stake in these debates about rights and autonomy in multicultural and multinational democracies is the very meaning of freedom.

Can, and should, liberalism make itself hospitable to a politics which does justice to climate change? To what extent are the values, methods, and assumptions of liberalism adaptable to the challenges raised? Liberal thinking – broadly construed – may dominate the Academy and the political landscape. Are the environmental priorities that are thrown into relief by climate change a threat to it, or are they an opportunity for it to show its worth? This book explores fresh arguments by leading scholars, both of whom are sceptical of liberalism’s capacity to meet these challenges, and sympathetic to the project of developing liberal values so as to create a liberal approach that can deliver climate change justice. The chapters appeal to new insights and considerations reveal the complexity of the issues at stake in the real world of climate change politics. They make the political theory of climate change justice available to decision-makers whose practice will determine whether we achieve it. This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Economy.

The distinctly contemporary proliferation of pornography and hate speech poses a challenge to liberalism's traditional ideal of a 'marketplace of ideas' facilitated by state neutrality about the content of speech. This new study argues that the liberal state ought to depart from neutrality to meet this challenge.

`This volume combines remarkable coverage and distinguished contributors. The inclusion of thematic, conceptual, and historical chapters will make it a valuable resource for scholars as well as students′ - Professor George Klosko, Department of Politics, University of Virginia This major new Handbook provides a definitive state-of-the-art review to political theory, past and present. It offers a complete guide to all the main areas and fields of political and philosophical inquiry today by the world′s leading theorists. The Handbook is divided into five parts which together serve to illustrate: - the diversity of political theorizing - the substantive theories that provide an over-aching analysis of the nature/or justification of the state and political life - the political theories that have been either formulated or resurgent in recent years - the current state of the central debates within contemporary political theory - the history of western political thought and its interpretations - traditions in political thought outside a western perspective. The Handbook of Political Theory marks a benchmark publication at the cutting edge of its field. It is essential reading for all students and academics of political theory and political philosophy around the world.

Debates about cultural diversity have become an important, controversial and inescapable features of the politics of modern democracies. Negotiating Diversity offers a lucid and accessible analysis of the political theory of multiculturalism. It is an ideal text for students looking for an overview of the state of play in this area. The book explores the ways the concept of culture has been used in political theory, and critically evaluates contemporary liberal responses to multiculturalism, including the work of key political philosophers such as Will Kymlicka, Brian Barry and Chandran Kukathas, drawing on a range of real-world examples to illustrate its arguments. It provides critique of the tendency to reify cultural identity in political thinking, particularly through an examination of contemporary liberalism. In its place, the author develops a deliberative alternative, which views the politics of cultural diversity as a fallible process of negotiation, argument and compromise. He confronts objections that this alternative itself offers an unrealistic or oppressive vision of politics, and explores the fragility of trust in the politics of multicultural societies.

Modern Power and Free Speech explores the complicated relationship between the First Amendment and culturally disempowered groups within the United States. By focusing on hate speech, Internet pornography, and political dissent, Chris Demaske analyzes First Amendment discourse and doctrine, and questions the role of the concept of the autonomous individual. Demaske asserts that the presupposed equality of so-called autonomous individuals does not exist and goes on to show how these specious claims to equality only serve to further silence those marginalized members of American society. Combining legal analysis. First Amendment theory, feminist theory, and political theory, Demaske addresses the inadequacies of current free

A defense of liberalism, understood as a perfectionist doctrine that presupposes an ideal but controversial notion of human well-being.

This innovative volume brings a selection of leading political theorists to the debate on multiculturalism and political legitimacy, and confronts issues including rights, liberalism, cultural pluralism and power relations.