We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more
Request an Inspection Copy
Cover

Liberalism: A Very Short Introduction

Michael Freeden

June 2015

ISBN: 9780199670437

160 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

In this Very Short Introduction, Michael Freeden explores the concept of liberalism, one of the longest-standing and central political theories and ideologies. Combining a variety of approaches, he distinguishes between liberalism as a political movement, as a system of ideas, and as a series of ethical and philosophical principles.

Share:

Description

In this Very Short Introduction, Michael Freeden explores the concept of liberalism, one of the longest-standing and central political theories and ideologies. Combining a variety of approaches, he distinguishes between liberalism as a political movement, as a system of ideas, and as a series of ethical and philosophical principles.

  • Looks at how liberalism can be understood from a variety of perspectives, including historical, philosophical, and ideological viewpoints
  • Highlights that liberalism is a dynamic and constantly changing set of principles and concepts
  • Considers the different methodologies used to express and explore liberalism
  • Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over seven million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Michael Freeden, Professor of Politics, University of Nottingham

Michael Freeden is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Nottingham and Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of Oxford. His books include The New Liberalism: An Ideology of Social Reform (Oxford, 1978); Liberalism Divided: A Study in British Political Thought 1914-1939 (Oxford, 1986); Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach (Oxford, 1996); Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2003); Liberal Languages: Ideological Imaginations and 20th Century Progressive Thought (Princeton, 2005); The Political Theory of Political Thinking (Oxford, 2013), and The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies (co-edited, Oxford, 2013). He is the founder-editor of the Journal of Political Ideologies. In 2012 he was awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies by the UK Political Studies Association and the Medal for Science of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Bologna University.

Table of Contents

    1:A house of many mansions
    2:The liberal narrative
    3:Layers of liberalism
    4:The morphology of liberalism
    5:The liberal canon
    6:Philosophical liberalism: Idealizing justice
    7:Misappropriations, reformulations, disparagements and lapses
    References
    Further reading

Reviews

"It is hard to imagine a better introduction to liberalism than Freedan's short book and, like all outstanding introductions, it has a lot to offer to those who don't think they really need one." - Journal of Liberal History

"There is much more to ponder over and learn in this slim volume - one of the latest installments in this portable but informative series dwelling on almost every facet of the human condition and the universe - from accounting to laws of thermodynatics, from plants to planets and from Alexander the Great to Nelson Mandela." - Millennium Post

Related Titles