Left and Right: The Significance of a Political Distinction

Bobbio, Norberto

ISBN 10: 0226062465 / ISBN 13: 9780226062464

Edité par University of Chicago Press, 1997

A propos de cet article

Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.

N° de réf. du vendeur X13J-01359

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Left and Right: The Significance of a Political Distinction
• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date de parution: 1997
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0226062465
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780226062464
• Reliure: Couverture souple
• État de l'article: Very Good

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Politicians and pundits have long disparaged their opponents with polemicist cries of "leftist!" or "rightist!", but with the fall of communism and the recent growth of conservatism many commentators have declared that the traditional left/right distinction has lost its relevance. However, in this study Bobbio asserts that this distinction still endures because it reflects the essential antithetical nature and dynamics of democratic politics. He constructs an historical, analytic division of the political universe along two foundational axes, from equality to inequality, from liberty to authoritarianism. He then charts the past and present tendencies of the left and the right, in both their moderate and more virulently extreme forms. Ultimately, his main contention is that the measure of postmodern democracy will lie on how we position ourselves relative to these critical left/right parameters, and on whether we cast ourselves, our votes and our era in terms of political expediency, social viability or moral responsibility.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Following the collapse of communism and the decline of Marxism, some commentators have claimed that we have reached the ′end of history′ and that the distinction between Left and Right can be forgotten.

In this book – which was a tremendous success in Italy – Norberto Bobbio challenges these views, arguing that the fundamental political distinction between Left and Right, which has shaped the two centuries since the French Revolution, has continuing relevance today.

Bobbio explores the grounds of this elusive distinction and argues that Left and Right are ultimately divided by different attitudes to equality. He carefully defines the nature of equality and inequality in relative rather than absolute terms.

Left and Right is a timely and persuasively argued account of the basic parameters of political action and debate in the modern world – parameters which have remained constant despite the pace of social change. The book will be widely read and, as in Italy, it will have an impact far beyond the academic domain.