The Political Economy of Civil Society and Human Rights / Edition 1

by Gary B. Madison

Overview

Madison uses the concept of civil society and his distinctive version of 'communicative rationality' to provide a closely-argued and robust defence of the neo-liberal political and economic tradition.
Writing with considerable elegance and humour, the author draws on the hermeneutical and neo-pragmatist traditions, and on a diverse range of evidence and discussion, mainly concerning transitional economies and societies in Eastern Europe and around the world. Providing a systematic analysis of the multi-faceted notion of civil society, this book shows in detail how the three main orders of civil society - the moral-cultural, the political, and the economic - constitute 'spheres of autonomy'. At the same time, it illustrates how these different orders are closely interrelated and interact in a synergetic manner. A unique feature of this study is the way in which the author demonstrates how the logic of the various orders of civil society is, in a way appropriate to the distinct nature of each order, a logic of communicative rationality. The work concludes by arguing that the only sure way of achieving international justice is by the construction of civil society world-wide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415166775
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/05/1998
Series:	Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought , #9
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

G.B.Madison is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University, Canada, and has held positions at the universities of Paris and Toronto. He has edited three collections of philosophical essays and is the author of several books on political theory and contemporary European philosophy. He has written extensively on issues relating to economic methodology, globalization, and civil society.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Idea of Civil Society; Chapter 2 A New Threat to an Old Idea; Chapter 3 The Moral-Cultural Order; Chapter 4 The Political Order; Chapter 5 The Economic Order;

Editorial Reviews

Anchored in 1989 as the Year of Truth for postmodern politics, the year the collapse of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the Cold War, the author analyzes the liberal ideas of a civil society and human rights, and new threats to them<-->in the context of the moral- cultural, political, and economic orders. While equating market democracy with social justice as well as prosperity, he is not as optimistic as those proclaiming that liberalism has definitively triumphed over its adversaries. Includes a substantial appended discussion on civil society and international justice. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews