Liberalism, Community and Culture

Liberalism is often described as a theory about the proper relationship between the individual and the state. But liberalism also contains a broader account of the relationship between the individual and society. Kymlicka here presents the liberal view about the nature and value of community culture in an unusually explicit and systematic way, and links it to more familiar liberal views on individual rights and state neutrality.

...essential reading for political and legal theorists and philosophers who are interested in real, urgent political issues...

Susan Moller Okin, Political Theory

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Liberalism
3. The Right and the Good
4. Communitarianism and the Self
5. Taylor's Social Thesis
6. Marxism and The Critique of Justice
7. Liberalism in Culturally Plural Societies
8. The Value of Cultural Membership
9. Equality for Minority Cultures
10. Minority Rights and the Liberal Tradition
11. Walzer and Minority Rights
12. Communitarianism and Minority Rights
13. Apartheid in South Africa
14. Conclusion

Excerpts

• Excerpted (Chapter 4) in B.N. Ray (ed.) Liberalism and the Communitarian Challenge (Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi, 1999), pp. 347-74.
• Excerpted (Chapter 7) in Eldon Soifer (ed.) Ethical Issues: Perspectives for Canadians (Broadview Press, Peterborough, first edition 1992; second edition 1997), pp. 578-93.
• Excerpted (chapter 7) in Tony Falikowski (ed.) Moral Philosophy for Modern Life (Prentice-Hall, 1997), pp. 297-314.