Communitarianism in Law and Society

Just when the communitarian political movement appears to be languishing in the United States, Paul van Seters has opened a lively cross-Atlantic dialogue on communitarian approaches in law and society. With essays by Philip Selznick, Roger Cotterrell, and other distinguished scholars, this collection explores the prospects for a jurisprudence rooted in shared understandings, mutual trust, and solidarity. Using the emergent law of the European Union as a special test case, several authors ask how liberalism can be reconstructed so as to give due recognition to the moral worth and significance of community. -- Kenneth Winston, Harvard University
Many discussions of liberalism and communitarianism assume opposition and force choice. This rich and varied collection transcends those unhelpful caricatures and duels. Here, there is acknowledgment of complexities and continuities. The search is for ways in which each might build upon and extend, and not merely rebut, the other. What emerges, in a range of versions and applications, are examples of 'liberal communitarianism' or 'communitarian liberalism', where both elements are acknowledged and developed, and the whole that emerges is often more interesting and supple than the sum of the parts. -- Martin Krygier, Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences