Read more
Opens up new histories of freedom and republicanism by building on Quentin Skinner's ground-breaking Liberty before Liberalism nearly twenty five years after its initial publication. Leading historians and philosophers reveal the neo-Roman conception of liberty that Skinner unearthed as a normative and historical hermeneutic tool of enormous, ongoing power. The volume thinks with neo-Romanism to offer reinterpretations of individual thinkers, such as Montaigne, Grotius and Locke. It probes the role of neo-Roman liberty within hierarchies and structures beyond that of citizen and state - namely, gender, slavery, and democracy. Finally, it reassesses the relationships between neo-Romanism and other languages in the history of political thought: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and the human rights tradition. The volume concludes with a major reappraisal by Skinner himself.
List of contents
Introduction Hannah Dawson and Annelien de Dijn; Part I. Authors: 1. Freedom without republicanism: the case of Montaigne Felicity Green; 2. Hugo Grotius on freedom of will and self-government: Greek, patristic and roman legacies Martin van Gelderen; 3. Liberty before licence in Locke Hannah Dawson; Part II. Hierarchies: 4. Liberty and hierarchy in Milton's revolutionary prose Rachel Foxley; 5. Democratic republicanism in the early modern period Annelien de Dijn; 6. Gender, liberty, participation and virtue: what the eighteenth century can teach us about republicanism Sandrine Bergès; 7. Liberty, death, and slavery in the age of atlantic revolutions, 1770s-1790s René Koekkoek; Part III. Traditions: 8. Beyond the 'wretched subterfuge': liberalism, freedom, and responsibility Eric Nelson; 9. 'A just and true liberty': the idea of (neo-roman) freedom in francophone counter-revolutionary thought c. 1780-1800 Matthijs Lok; 10. Chains and invisible threads: liberty and domination in Marx's account of wage-slavery Bruno Leipold; 11. Republican liberty in the philosophy of human rights Lena Halldenius; Conclusion: on neo-roman liberty: a response and reassessment Quentin Skinner.
About the author
Hannah Dawson is Senior Lecturer in the History of Political Thought at King's College London. She is an expert on early modern thought and the history of feminism. Her previous publications include Locke, Language and Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Life Lessons from Hobbes (2013), and The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing (2021), as well as numerous scholarly articles. She is a regular contributor to radio, television and festivals.Annelien de Dijn is Professor of Modern Political History at Utrecht University. She is the author of French Political Thought from Montesquieu to Tocqueville (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and Freedom: An Unruly History (2020) which was awarded the 2021 PROSE Prize in Philosophy by the American Association of Publishers.
Summary
Offers new histories of freedom and republicanism by reflecting on the enduring significance of Quentin Skinner's ground-breaking Liberty Before Liberalism. The volume reveals the neo-Roman conception of liberty that Skinner unearthed as a normative and historical tool of enormous power, and concludes with a major reappraisal by Skinner himself.
Foreword
Reflects on histories of freedom and republicanism through a major new reappraisal of Quentin Skinner's Liberty before Liberalism.
