Politics and Passion: Toward a More Egalitarian Liberalism

by Michael Walzer

A preeminent political theorist argues—against prevailing liberal theory—for the role of passion in political life

Liberalism is egalitarian in principle, but why doesn’t it do more to promote equality in practice? In this book, the distinguished political philosopher Michael Walzer offers a critique of liberal theory and demonstrates that crucial realities have been submerged in the evolution of contemporary liberal thought. In the standard versions of liberal theory, autonomous individuals deliberate about what ought to be done—but in the real world, citizens also organize, mobilize, bargain, and lobby. The real world is more contentious than deliberative. Ranging over hotly contested issues including multiculturalism, pluralism, difference, civil society, and racial and gender justice, Walzer suggests ways in which liberal theory might be revised to make it more hospitable to the claims of equality. Combining profound learning with practical wisdom, Michael Walzer offers a provocative reappraisal of the core tenets of liberal thought. Politics and Passion will be required reading for anyone interested in social justice—and the means by which we seek to achieve it.

Genres: Politics

184 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2003

About the author

Michael Walzer is a Jewish American political philosopher and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor of the political-intellectual quarterly Dissent. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics, including just and unjust wars, nationalism, ethnicity, economic justice, social criticism, radicalism, tolerance, and political obligation and is a contributing editor to The New Republic. To date, he has written 27 books and published over 300 articles, essays, and book reviews in Dissent, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many scholarly journals

Reviews

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a secondhand bookstore recently while I was shopping for specific political books. It looked interesting so I gave it a quick Google at saw it was on the Yale political science booklist. How could I go wrong? Even if I disagreed with points I’d still learn. I was right and reading this was a wonderful decision. This book provides powerful insight into liberal theory, the shortcomings of it and the necessary improvements. I would recommend this to anyone interested in politics, improving people’s lives through social justice or progressive thinkers (even conservatives if you like reading the other sides theory). I found it to be a short but dense (sometimes it was a bit of a grind) read that possessed many points I could easily summarize and take away from each chapter.

[Bookshark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Politics and Passion," Walzer cogently defends the central principles of political liberalism while simultaneously subjecting them to the scrutiny of the communitarian critique. Walzer's use of concrete examples to explain his approach to navigating conflicting values in a pluralist democracy is easily the book's greatest strength. The primary weakness is the work's lack of originality and scholastic rigor. While it was a pleasant read, a serious student of political theory will find nothing here that wasn't already easily inferrable from Rawls or even simple observation. In short, this straightforward account of communitarian liberalism is relatively nuanced for such an accessible book.

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a challenge so far, but makes you question quite a few things as well..