Republicanism

In the past decade republican political theory has made a vital contribution to contemporary philosophical debates on freedom, citizenship and the state. After charting the historical origins of the republican tradition in modern political thought, this book offers a systematic critical survey of contemporary republican political theory including the work of such writers as Philip Pettit and Quentin Skinner. The book explores the republican idea of freedom as non-domination and casts Republicanism as a philosophical approach with a specific concern for the political agency of citizens and the political institutions required to safeguard the freedom of citizens. Republicanism engages with the ways in which social interaction may lead to dominium or imperium, the arbitrary interference of the state in one's life, and the different strategies republican political theory offers to counter such domination. In addition, the authors go on to show how republican principles and values influence public policy in such diverse areas as unconditional basic income, corporate social responsibility, disability policy, children's rights and the family, and the accommodation of cultural difference.

Jurgen de Wispelaere is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherche en Ethique at the University of Montreal, Canada.

Simon Birnbaum is a Researcher in the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Sweden.

David Casassas is Lecturer in political philosophy and history of political thought at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain.