European Liberalisms

An Essay in Comparative Political Thought

Bibliographic Data

ID6260291
AuthorsMichael Freeden (0000-0002-9097-4532, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume7
Issue1
Pages9-30
Publication date2008-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Political Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1474-8851 • E-ISSN: 1741-2730
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1474885107083401
OpenAlexW2170510486
LanguageEN
Citations received9

After examining different liberal narratives and suggesting that liberalism is open to a range of legitimate methodologies, the fluidity of liberalism is offered as a basis for a study in comparative political thought. Ten propositions on liberalism's structural and semantic features are listed and brought to bear on its adaptations, appropriations and misappropriations in Europe. They are tested in relation to various combinations of liberal components within and outside the family of liberalisms. Different views about the role of the state in Eastern and Western Europe are considered, as is the distinction between constitutional and welfare liberalism in Western Europe. Individual development versions are contrasted with market versions, and the problematic role of civil society is discussed. Finally, some misappropriations are explored with a view to assessing their claims to represent liberal positions. European liberalism emerges as a loosely assembled yet durable ideology around a strong core of value-commitments

Classical liberalism · Economic liberalism · Economics · Ideology · Law and economics · Liberalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Relation (database · Sociology · State (computer science · Welfare state · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Political Theory and Influence

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub