Liberalism after communitarianism

Abstract

In this essay I suggest that, following the 'liberal-communitarian' debate in Anglo-American political philosophy in the 1980s, liberal political thought has evolved. The neutralist variant that was the target of communitarian criticisms has embraced a conception of community, and three other variants have become much more prominent. One emphasizes how liberalism should be seen as political ideology among others; a second advances it on the basis of a conception of individual liberty as autonomy; and a third interprets it in terms of value pluralism. All are described and criticized. This essay is a new version of a chapter that appeared in Gerard Delanty and Stephen Turner, eds., International Handbook of Social and Political Theory.