Liberal Realism: Politics of Difference Beyond the Universalist-Contextualist Debate

The central issue explored in this book is the problem of difference in democratic theory, focusing on the debates between liberalism and realism. Realist theories critique liberal models for ignoring community-specific differences and reducing plural forms of life to a homogeneous political project. This book argues that while realist models challenge the universalism of liberalism, they fail to normatively ground the adjudication of differences and cannot distinguish between legitimate an...