Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism : : Marx and Normative Social Theory in the Twenty-first Century / / By Tony Smith.

• Author: Smith, Tony.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Brill,, [2017]
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Series: Historical Materialism Book Series 142.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (389 pages).

Progressive theorists and activists insist that contemporary capitalism is deeply flawed from a normative point of view. However, most accept the liberal egalitarian thesis that the serious shortcomings of market societies (financial excess, inequality, and so on) could be overcome with proper political regulation. Building on Marx's legacy, Tony Smith argues in Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism that advocates of this thesis (Rawls, Habermas, Stiglitz, and others) lack an adequate concept of capital and the state. These theorists also fail to comprehend new developments in world history ensuring that the 'destructive' aspects of capitalism increasingly outweigh whatever 'creative' elements it might continue to possess. Smith concludes that a normative social theory adequate to the twenty-first century must explicitly and unequivocally embrace socialism.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Preface -- Liberal Egalitarianism -- Towards a Liberal Egalitarian Normative Theory of Institutions -- Misunderstandings, False Starts, Further Questions -- The Beginning Level of Marxian Theory -- Marx’s Concept of Capital -- Human Flourishing and the Structural Tendencies of Capitalism -- A Liberal Egalitarian Response to the Marxian Challenge -- Towards a Marxian Theory of ‘The Political’ -- Competing Perspectives on Neoliberalism -- Two Modified Versions of Liberal Egalitarianism -- Modified Liberal Egalitarianism and the Present Moment in World History -- Property-Owning Democracy: A Liberal Egalitarianism beyond Capitalism? -- Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism -- Back Matter -- Bibliography -- Index.