Social Bonds As Freedom : Revisiting the Dichotomy of the Universal and the Particular

Central to discussions of multiculturalism and minority rights in modern liberal societies is the idea that the particular demands of minority groups contradict the requirements of equality, anonymity, and universality for citizenship and belonging. The contributors to this volume question the significance of this dichotomy between the universal and the particular, arguing that it reflects how the modern state has instituted the basic rights and obligations of its members and that these institutions are undergoing fundamental transformations under the pressure of globalization. They show that the social bonds uniting groups constitute the means of our freedom, rather than obstacles to achieving the universal.-- Provided by publisher Contents Tables INTRODUCTION Of Bonds and Boundaries PART I Social Bonds in Transformation CHAPTER 1 Incompleteness and the Possibility of Making: Towards Denationalized Citizenship? CHAPTER 2 Justice and Culture: New Contradictions in the Era of Techno-Nihilist Capitalism CHAPTER 3 Making Commonality in the Plural on the Basis of Binding Engagements CHAPTER 4 On the Poverty of Our Freedom: Relevance and Limits of the Hegelian Ethical System PART II Beyond Imperial Universalism CHAPTER 5 Western Humanitarianism and the Representation of Distant Suffering: A Genealogy of Moral Grammars and Visual Regimes CHAPTER 6 Parochial Altruism and Christian Universalism: On the Deep Difficulties to Create Solidarity without Outside Enemies CHAPTER 7 Partial Commitments and Universal Obligations CHAPTER 8 A Reluctant Cosmopolitan PART III Towards a Reconceptualization of Liberalism CHAPTER 9 Liberal Autonomy and Minority Accommodation: A New Approach CHAPTER 10 Cultural Boundaries and the Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities: Is Secularism Enough? CHAPTER 11 Arrow, Rawls and Sen: The Transformation of Political Economics and the Idea of Liberalism Conclusion: Social Bonds as Freedom Index Incompleteness and the possibility of making : towards denationalized citizenship? / Saskia Sassen Justice and culture : new contradictions in the era of techno-nihilistic capitalism / Mauro Magatti Bounded justifiability : making commonality on the basis of binding engagements / Laurent Thevenot On the poverty of our freedom / Axel Honneth Western humanitarianism and the representation of distant suffering : a genealogy of moral grammars and visual regimes / Fuyuki Kurasawa Parochial altruism and Christian universalism : on the deep difficulties of creating solidarity without outside enemies / Wolfgang Palaver Partial commitments and universal obligations / Paul Dumouchel A reluctant cosmopolitan / Anne Phillips Liberal autonomy and minority accommodation : a new approach / Geoffrey Brahm Levey Cultural boundaries and the reasonable accommodation of minorities : is secularism enough? / Gurpreet Mahajan Arrow, Rawls and Sen : the transformation of political economy and the idea of liberalism / Reiko Gotoh Conclusion : social bonds as freedom.