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Table of Contents | Cover Page | Editors | Contributors | Introduction | Web Version |
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| COMMUNITARIANISM | ||||
| A philosophy associated with thinkers such as Burke and Rousseau, which
opposes the individualism of liberal political theory embodied in such
thinkers as Hobbes and Locke. Whereas liberals stress the primacy of the
"unencumbered" self and individual rights, communitarians see
individual identity as socially embedded and stress responsibility for the
common good. Habits of the Heart (1985), by Robert Bellah and his
colleagues, is an exemplary sociological study based on communitarian
premises. Walzer (1990:6) notes that historically the communitarian
critique of liberalism has been "like the pleating of trousers:
transient but certain to return." Led by the George Washington
University sociologist Amitai Etzioni, communitarianism was formally
organized as the "Communitarian Network" in 1990 with the goal
of shoring up the moral, social, and political environments of America by
strengthening the family, putting character building at the center of
schools, and rebuilding local communities.
—David Yamane ReferencesR. Bellah et al., Habits of the Heart (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985) A. Etzioni, The Spirit of Community (New York: Touchstone, 1994) M. Walzer, "The Communitarian Critique of Liberalism," Political Theory 18(1990): 6-23. |
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