Research Catalog

Title

Conservatism : the fight for a tradition / Edmund Fawcett.

Author

Fawcett, Edmund

Publication

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2020]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xv, 525 pages; 25 cm

Summary

"The sharp polarisation of left and right is commonly dwelt on as the big political handicap of our times. Angry divisions on the right itself get less attention. Conservatism fills that gap. Across Europe and the US, a liberal right is at war with an illiberal right. As the leading force in politics, it is vital to understand the roots of the right's struggle with itself, how it stands and how it is likely to come out. From its early 19th-century origins to now, conservatism never finally settled on how far to compromise with liberalism, democracy and the capitalist world out of which both grew. By the late 19th century, the mainstream right had come to terms with all three. Its reward was lasting success in the next century and beyond. On the political fringes and among ethical-cultural critics, a recalcitrant right, unreconciled to liberal democracy, never died. Resistance to liberal democracy is seen today in the hard right, a strange but potent alliance of hyper-liberal globalists and anti-liberal localists. Conservatism focuses on an exemplary core of France, Britain, Germany and the United States. It describes the parties, politicians and thinkers of the right, bringing out strengths and weaknesses in conservative thought. An appendix includes definitions of leading terms, a brief account of conservatism's philosophical origins and mini-lives of more than 200 conservatives. Historical and topical, neither celebration nor caricature, Conservatism is a unique, panoramic survey of the Western world's dominant political tradition"--

Subjects

• History
• Conservatism > Philosophy
• Conservatism > History

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents

Part I : Conservatism's forerunners. Critics of revolution -- Part II : What conservatism is. Character, outlook, and labelling of conservatism -- Part III : Conservatism's first phase (1830-80) : resisting liberalism. Parties and politicians : a right without authority -- Ideas and thinkers : turning reason against liberalism -- Part IV : Conservatism's second phase (1880-1945) : adaptation and compromise. Parties and politicians : authority recovered and squandered -- Ideas and thinkers : distrust of democracy and of public reason -- Part V : Conservatism's third phase (1945-80) : political command and intellectual recovery. Parties and politicians : recovering nerve and rewinning power -- Ideas and thinkers : answering liberal orthodoxies -- Part VI : Conservatism's fourth phase (1980-the present) : hyper-liberalism and the hard right. Parties and politicians : letting in the hard right -- Ideas and thinkers : yes or no to a hyper-liberal status quo -- Coda : Choices for the right.

Call Number

JFE 21-809

ISBN

• 9780691174105
• 0691174105
• 9780691207773 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2020020532

OCLC

1151069632

Author

Fawcett, Edmund, author.

Title

Conservatism : the fight for a tradition / Edmund Fawcett.

Publisher

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2020]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Other Form:

Online version: Fawcett, Edmund, Conservatism Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2020. 9780691207773 (DLC) 2020020533

Research Call Number

JFE 21-809