Liberalism and Modern Society

Bellamy examines the evolution of liberal ideas in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, discussing the work of Mill, Green, Durkeim, Weber, and Pareto, among others. He situates their theories firmly within their respective historical contexts, illustrating in this way the contingency of many of the social and moral assumptions underlying liberal thought. For modern societies have undergone profound changes in the course of the last century, and Bellamy argues that these changes have severely undermined many of the key tenets of liberalism.

The final part of the book examines critically the elaboration of liberal ideas in the work of contemporary political philosophers such as Hayek, Nozick, and Rawls. Bellamy shows how the liberalisms of these writers rest on social views and moral intuitions that are now anachronistic and untenable. He maintains that only a democratic liberalism built on realistic foundations can provide a plausible political theory in the complex and pluralist societies of the modern world.

“This book is excellent and deserves a wide audience. The linking of ideas, history, and institutional analysis is very deftly done—a major contribution to one of the central political traditions of the modern world.”—Raymond Plant, Kings College London

“The intellectual purpose of this book is especially valuable for American readers, all too many of whom have very little sense of the profound differences between different national varieties of the same liberal politics. . . . I think it is quite original in its conclusions, and takes a novel view of the scene, especially in putting together a sociological and a more narrowly philosophical perspective on liberalism.”—Alan Ryan, Princeton University

Richard Bellamy is Professor of Political Science and Director of the European Institute at University College London. He is the author of Modern Italian Social Theory (1987).

Political Science

           Political Theory

           International Relations