Communitarianism: Politics, Society and Public Policy

(Paperback, 2nd edition)

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This thoroughly revised and updated second edition of Henry Tams Communitarianism brings different strands of communitarian thought together into a critical synthesis, at the centre of which is the ideal of inclusive communities based on the three principles of mutual responsibility, cooperative enquiry, and citizen participation. Communitarianism, the idea that human identities are largely shaped by different kinds of constitutive communities (or social relations), poses a major challenge to the left-right divide in politics and the competing principles of individualism and authoritarianism. Tam shows how communitarian ideas can be applied in practice, addressing key problems in social, economic, and political life, with case studies from the state sector, business sector, and the voluntary sector to demonstrate how we can more effectively respond to the major problems facing society. With key pedagogical features including a timeline of the emergence of key communitarian ideas, diagrams illustrating conceptual differences relating to communitarian, authoritarian and individualist thinking, and a selection of global case studies and further readings, this is the authoritative guide to Communitarianism theory and practice.

Reviews

'...[A] scholarly overview of the subject combined with an agenda for political practice and reform. The book is an excellent statement of the communitarian approach to politics and citizenship.' - Desmond King, Times Higher Education Supplement. * Desmond King, Times Higher Education Supplement *

Author Bio

Henry Tam has been Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and Head of Civil Renewal in the UK Government. He is the author of several books including Communitarianism (1998), Time to Save Democracy (2018), and Whose Government is it (2019).