{"product_id":"9780978872861","title":"Classical Liberalism","description":"\"Classical Liberalism is a must read. For one thing, readers should not deprive themselves of the pure enjoyment of this engaging and clear-minded narrative of a broad swath of history. For another, anyone concerned about the state of democratic civil society in the West, and worried about its future, cannot afford to neglect this disarming analysis.\"\u003cp\u003e- Prof. Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Syracuse University\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to the conventional history, liberalism went through two phases, laissez-faire liberalism and modern liberalism. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book rediscoveers a lost tradition of liberal thought and shows that liberalism went through three phases:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eClassical liberalism\u003c\/b\u003e believed in positive freedom, the right of people to manage their own affairs and to govern themselves.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eVictorian liberalism\u003c\/b\u003e had two aspects. Laissez-faire liberalism accommodated the industrial economy by inventing the ideal of negative freedom: freedom was simply absence of government control. There was also a more idealistic aspect of Victorian liberalism which is largely forgotten today but which was central to the abolitionist and feminist movements.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eModernist liberalism\u003c\/b\u003e kept the laissez-faire idea of negative freedom but applied it to a narrow realm of personal behavior. It expected centralized organizations to make important decisions, and it emphasized personal freedom. \u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaissez-faire and modernist liberalism redefined freedom as negative in order to accommodate economic growth. To revitalize the liberal tradition, we need to revive the ideal of positive freedom.","brand":"Preservation Institute","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49827893805296,"sku":"9780978872861","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780978872861","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}