Freedom Reclaimed

Agree with Schwarz or not, Freedom Reclaimed has to be taken seriously because it could define the discourse for the next 50 years. -- Theodore J. Lowi, Cornell University This stimulating and important work by an independent-minded and humane scholar undertakes the sizeable intellectual task of rescuing the idea of freedom from the monopoly of open-market libertarians and reconciling its basic assumptions with traditional American concerns for the common good. -- Nelson W. Polsby, Heller Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

In so doing, he transforms the way we see our world and revitalizes our ability to change it for the better.Has the nation's infatuation with the free market warped the true meaning of American freedom by its emphasis on the self-serving individual in a "looking out for Number One" world? Freedom is America's most treasured value. In Freedom Reclaimed, John E. Schwarz examines the profound implications of the difference between the vision of American freedom that the Founders enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the free-market idea of freedom that is ascendant today. Schwarz shows how the three-decade shift toward free-market freedom has brought economic hardship to the majority of Americans and suffering to the political life of the nation. As the nation moves further away from its impelling original commitment, most Americans now have only limited access to the freedom the Founders envisioned. Schwarz sets forth a program that can help America return to its ennobling vision and resume its historic journey. In policy discussions on employment, education, social issues, and health care, Schwarz recasts our understanding of what freedom means and involves. In so doing, he transforms the way we see our world and revitalizes our ability to change it for the better.