The Shadow of Unfairness

A Plebeian Theory of Liberal Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID20005774
AuthorsJeffrey Green (0000-0002-9070-3361, corresponding author), Jeffrey Edward Green (0000-0003-4426-0616)
Year2016
Pages264
Publication date2016-07-26
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueShadow of Unfairness (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190215903.001.0001
OpenAlexW4246473823
Open LibraryOL28605719M
ISBN9780190215903
LanguageEN
Citations received40

In this sequel to his prize-winning book, The Eyes of the People, Jeffrey Edward Green draws on philosophy, history, social science, and literature to ask what democracy can mean in a world where it is understood that socioeconomic status to some degree will always determine opportunities for civic engagement and career advancement. Under this shadow of unfairness, Green argues that the most advantaged class are rightly subjected to compulsory public burdens, but he also attends to the uncomfortable aspects of ordinary, "second-class" citizenship as well: above all, the "reasonable envy," "principled vulgarity," and need for "extrapolitical solace" that will inform everyday citizens' efforts to seek democratic ends within a political landscape permanently darkened by plutocracy. Deeply engaged in the history of political thought, the book is still first and foremost an effort to illuminate present-day politics. With the plebeians of ancient Rome as his muse, Green develops a plebeian conception of contemporary liberal democracy, at once disenchanted yet idealistic in its insistence that the Few-Many distinction might be enlisted for progressive purpose. Green's analysis is likely to unsettle all sides of the political spectrum, but its purpose looks beyond narrow partisan concerns and aims instead to understand what the ongoing quest for free and equal citizenship might require once it is accepted that our political and educational systems will always be tainted by economic inequality

Aesthetics · Art · Citizenship · Democracy · Political science · Politics · Shadow (psychology) · Sociology · Vulgarity · Law · Political Economy and Marxism · Psychology · Economic aspects · Political aspects · Political participation · Representative government and representation · Social status

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