The Communitarian Reader

The Communitarian Reader: Beyond the Essentials brings together essays by prominent social thinkers reflecting on issues ranging from moral obligations to civil liberties after 9/11. The result is a book both practical and theoretical, and an essential guide for all interested in further exploring this important social movement.

This book shows why communitarian thought has had such a profound influence on contemporary public policy - from strengthening neighbourhoods to fighting AIDS and educating children.

The Communitarian Reader: Beyond the Essentials brings together essays by prominent social thinkers reflecting on issues ranging from moral obligations to civil liberties after 9/11. The result is a book both practical and theoretical, and an essential guide for all interested in further exploring this important social movement.

Bowling Alone, the title of Robert Putnam's 1995 article (later a bestselling book) perfectly captured a sense of national unease: Somewhere along the way, America had become a nation divided by apathy, and the bonds that held together civil society were disappearing. But while the phrase resonated with our growing sense of atomization, it didn't describe a new phenomenon. The fear that isolation has eroded our social bonds had simmered for at least two decades, when communitarianism first emerged as a cogent political philosophy. Communitarianism, as explained in the works of Michael Sandel, Alasdair MacIntyre, Amitai Etzioni, and others, elevates the idea of communal good over the rights of individuals. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, communitarianism gained popular and political ground. The Clintons touted its principles in the '90s, and the two presidents Bush make frequent references to its central tenets. In its short life, the philosophy has generated plenty of books, both pro and con. Beau Breslin's authoritative and original examination, The Communitarian Constitution, contributes to the debate from a wholly original standpoint. Existing critiques focus on the debate between liberalism and communitarianism—in other words, the conflict between individual rights and the communal good. Breslin takes an entirely different stance, examining the pragmatic question of whether or not communitarian policies are truly practicable in a constitutional society. In tackling this question, Breslin traces the evolution of American communitarianism. He examines Lincoln's unconstitutional Civil War suspension of habeas corpus and draws on Federalist and Anti-Federalist arguments, pegging the Anti-Federalists as communitarians' intellectual forebearers. He also grounds his arguments in the real world, examining the constitutions of Germany and Israel, which offer further insight into the relationship between constitutionalism and communitarianism. At a moment when American politicians and citizenry are struggling to balance competing needs, such as civil rights and homeland security, The Communitarian Constitution is vital reading for anyone interested in the evolving tensions between individual rights and the good of the community.

Many have criticized liberalism for being too individualist, but few have offered an alternative that goes beyond a vague affirmation of the need for community. In this entertaining book, written in dialogue form, Daniel Bell fills this gap, presenting and defending a distinctively communitarian theory against the objections of a liberal critic. In a Paris cafe Anne, a strong supporter of communitarian ideals, and Philip, her querulous critic, debate the issues. Drawing on the works of such thinkers as Charles Taylor, Michael Sandel, and Alasdair MacIntyre, Anne attacks liberalism's individualistic view of the person by pointing to our social embeddedness. She then develops Michael Walzer's idea that political thinking involves the interpretation of shared meanings emerging from the political life of a community, and rebuts Philip's criticism that this approach damages her case by being conservative and relativistic. She goes on to develop a justification of communal life and to answer the criticism that communitarians lack an alternative moral and political vision. The book ends with two later discussions, by Will Kymlicka and Daniel Bell, in which Anne and another friend, Louise, argue about the merits of the book's earlier debate and put it in perspective. Daniel Bell's book is a provocative defence of a distinctively communitarian theory which will stimulate interest and debate among both students of political theory and those approaching the subject for the first time.

Explains how Americans need to develop or restore a sense of community in order to reconstruct society.

This is a provocative new book that examines the relationship between individual rights and social responsibilities. The book's thirty essays explore the foundations of communitarian thought as well as the implications of communitarian ideas for contemporary public and social policy. The essays also discuss how communities can be strengthened and consider how society can be more responsive to the needs of individuals and communities.

Utilizing 100 key readings, The Political Theory Reader explores the rich tradition of ideas that shape the way we live and the great issues in political theory today. Allows students to see how competing ideological viewpoints think about the same political issues Provides readers with direct access to authors covered in the From Ideologies to Public Philosophies text Facilitates discussions by having readings arranged thematically throughout text Extracts of works specifically chosen to focus on topics central to issues covered in chapters.