J.S. Mill's Political Thought: A Bicentennial Reassessment

by Nadia Urbinati (Editor), Alex Zakaras (Editor)

Overview

While John Stuart Mill's writing remains a touchstone for debates over liberty and liberalism, many other dimensions of his political philosophy are often ignored. Yet Mill's relevance has only grown since the end of the Cold War, with the resurgence of nationalism, the emergence of new forms of imperial power, and a renewed interest in state-building and the constitution of democracy. This book illustrates the breadth and depth of Mill's political writings. It offers a critical reassessment of Mill's political philosophy in light of recent global development and political transformation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521677561
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/29/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Nadia Urbinati is Neil Singer Professor of Contemporary Civilization at Columbia University in the Department of Political Science. She is the author of Mill on Democracy: From the Athenian Polis to Representative Government, which received the David and Elaine Spitz Prize as the best book in liberal and democratic theory published in 2002, and Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy. Professor Urbinati has edited the works of Carlo Rosselli, Liberal Socialism (1994) and Piero Gobetti, On Liberal Revolution (2000).

Alex Zakaras is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. He is currently completing his first book on individuality and democratic citizenship in the writings of J. S. Mill and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Table of Contents

List of contributors; Introduction Nadia Urbaniti and Alex Zakaras; Part I. Liberty and its Limits: 1. Mill on liberty and on the Contagious Diseases Act Jeremy Waldron; 2. Rational freedom in John Stuart Mill's feminism Maria Morales; 3. The many heads of the hydra: J. S. Mill on despotism Nadia Urbinati; 4. J. S. Mill and Liberal Socialism Bruce Baum; 5. The method of reform: J. S. Mill's encounter with Bentham and Coleridge Frederick Rosen; Part II. Democracy and the Individual: 6. Bureaucracy, democracy, liberty: some unanswered questions in Mill's politics Alan Ryan; 7. Mill in parliament: when should a philosopher compromise? Dennis F. Thompson; 8. John Stuart Mill, individuality, and participatory democracy Alex Zakaras; 9. Mill's neo-Athenian model of Liberal Democracy Jonathan Riley; 10. John Stuart Mill on education and democracy Wendy Donner; Part III. Beyond National Borders: 11. Cosmopolitan patriotism in J. S. Mill's political thought and activism Georgios Varouxakis; 12. Mill and the imperial predicament Karuna Mantena; 13. Making sense of liberal imperialism Stephen Holmes; 14. Mill's 'A Few Words on Non-Intervention': a commentary Michael Walzer; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

“This timely and vibrant book makes a major contribution to the history of ideas, and offers a good deal more. Its fresh and provocative essays renew our interest in John Stuart Mill by emplacing his writings at the center of a wide range of issues about democracy, pluralism, domination, and empire that are fundamental to political liberalism, in his time and in ours.” — Ira Katznelson, Columbia University

“A greatly valuable collection of new essays on Mill by a set of distinguished scholars. The book admirably covers Mill's thought about practical affairs and analyzes with patience and imagination his powerful theoretical writings in moral and political philosophy. We are given fine testimony to Mill's incomparable genius.” — George Kateb, Princeton University

"J.S. Mill's Political Thought provides a timely reminder that Mill was far more than a Utilitarian philosopher and far more than the author of "On Liberty." The Mill presented by the wide-ranging essays in this volume is a political thinker of the first rank; one whose thought is surprisingly concrete, historical, and non-dogmatic; one whose struggles with the political issues of his own day—including bureaucratic despotism, national liberation, foreign intervention, imperialism, the nature of civic education, and the role of participation—throws a sharp light on those of our time. The essays do a remarkable job of bringing Mill into dialogue with contemporary concerns, while never losing sight of the complex character of Mill's eclectic and inimitable brand of liberalism." — Dana Villa, University of Notre Dame

From the Publisher