Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Help Support the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!
- African Studies
- African American Studies
- American Politics
- American Studies
- American South
- American West
- Asian American Studies
- Australian and New Zealand Studies
- British Studies
- Canadian Studies
- Caribbean Studies
- Central Asian Studies
- Chinese Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Eastern European Studies
- European Politics
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Iberian Studies
- India Studies
- Indian Ocean World
- Iranian Studies
- Irish Studies
- Israel Studies
- Italian Studies
- Japanese Studies
- Korean Studies
- Latino Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Mexican Studies
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Native American Studies
- Pacific Studies
- Polish Studies
- Russian and Eurasian Studies
- Southeast Asian Studies
- South Asian Studies
- Turkish Studies
- Ukrainian Studies
- Western European Studies
- World Affairs
- Animal Studies
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Business, Management, and Marketing
- Media
- Critical Theory
- Disability Studies
- Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
- Education
- Economics
- Finance
- Geography
- Gender Studies
- Genocide Studies
- Higher Education
- Human Rights
- Journalism
- Language
- Law
- LGBTQ+ Studies
- National Security
- Philanthropy
- Philosophy
- Policing, Incarceration, and Reform
- Political Science
- Politics & Polemics
- Public Policy
- Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work
- Sociology
- Sound Studies
- Sports
- Urban Studies
- Big Ideas
- Celebration Studies
- Co-Authored
- Cover Story
- Historical Materialism
- History Ex Silo
- Interpretive Political and Social Science
- Invested Investor
- Landscape Architecture
- Late Antiquity
- Mormonism
- NBN Book of the Day
- NBN Seminar
- Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science
- Practical History
- Preparing for Life After Grad School
- Psychology and Climate Change
- Syriac Studies
- The Chair: In The Room at the Fed
- New Books with Miranda Melcher
Oct 6, 2015
Degrees of Freedom
Liberal Political Philosophy and Ideology
Summary
"What exactly is liberalism?" The independent scholar Edwin van de Haar tackles this important question in his new book Degrees of Freedom: Liberal Political Philosophy and Ideology (Transaction Publishers, 2015). Setting the record straight, van de Haar explains how the history of liberalism should be viewed as an ongoing struggle for individual freedom. The importance that liberals place on freedom helps explain why they tend to create dynamic political/economic orders that change the status quo in ways not predetermined by centralized plans or ideological blueprints. To help readers better understand the diversity and boundaries of liberalism, van de Haar divides liberal thought into three main variants--Classical, Social, and Libertarianism. Unlike previous works on liberalism, he devotes considerable attention to how each of these variants tends to conceive of international affairs and defines the optimal global order. He also explains how liberal thought differs from conservatism and the mistakes authors almost always make when they use the term "neoliberal" to critique global capitalism.
While readers may not agree with all of van de Haar's arguments, they will benefit from grappling with Degrees of Freedom. Employing cogent prose and an easy-to-follow framework, he explains why liberal thought remains an important and relevant subject for all citizens of the world. Taking on some of liberalism's fiercest critics, van de Haar also reminds readers that liberal thought can still serve as a blueprint for creating societies consistent with the goals of freedom, justice, equality, and personal fulfilment.
