Description
Liberal democracies need solidarity. They need citizens who sacrifice for their country, rally for justice, and help their neighbors. Yet according to critics of liberalism like Carl Schmitt, the solidarity liberal democracies need comes from sources they cannot themselves produce, like religion. Thus in a time of declining religiosity and rising nationalism, how can we form strong social bonds without racism, demagoguery, and xenophobia? Can we have not only solidarity, but liberal solidarity, in a secular age? In Solidarity in a Secular Age, Charles H. T. Lesch responds to Schmitt's challenge, proposing a new liberal-democratic solidarity rooted in personal sacrifice, shared fate, and moral destiny. Through readings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Jurgen Habermas, he uncovers religion's underlying role in Western thinking about solidarity since the Enlightenment. Turning next to Emmanuel Levinas, Martin Buber, and George Eliot, he shows how Jewish ideas can contribute to reimagining our social bond for the twenty-first century. Lesch provides a new language for restoring our fractured unity while staying true to core liberal values. He shows how theological ideas influence even outwardly secular philosophical and political theories. Radically revising political theory's relationship to religion, he challenges us to rethink and rebuild our social bond.
About the Author
Charles H. T. Lesch is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research grapples with questions in contemporary political theory and practice by drawing from the history of European political thought, modern and classical Jewish thought, religious studies, social theory, and literature. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, The Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, and The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society. He has won awards including Harvard's Bowdoin Prize and Vanderbilt's Robert Birkby Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and has been a Golda Meir Fellow, Mellon/ACLS Fellow, Harvard Presidential Scholar, Fulbright Fellow, and Edmond J. Safra Graduate Fellow in Ethics.
Reviews
Does justice require a robust experience of solidarity? If so, can liberalism alone supply what is needed? Or must liberal rationality draw upon the resources of religious tradition that may or may not be available in a secular culture? It's hard to imagine questions more essential for political philosophy. Charles Lesch, with his capacious reading, deeply thoughtful reflectiveness, and gift for elegant writing, is wonderfully well-equipped to pose these questions and help us answer them. * Ronald Beiner, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto, and author of Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy *
A landmark book. Following Charles Lesch's well guided footsteps from Carl Schmitt, back to Rousseau and Kant and on to Habermas, Buber and Levinas, and with deep attention to George Eliot's prophetic and profound Daniel Deronda, serious readers will see decisively what is and will remain central in human and humane social and political thinking. * Lenn E. Goodman, author of On Justice and Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself *
In this path-breaking book, Lesch advances the counter-intuitive claim that Jewish thinkers such as Levinas and Buber illuminate the path to solidarity in a secular age. Why do we need solidarity? Liberal theories of justice can tell citizens what to do, but often fall short when it comes to motivating them to discharge their duties. Lesch's erudite study focuses attention on the not-fully rational elements of our psychology and how they can foster justice-enhancing forms of social cohesion. This is the book on solidarity that political theorists have been waiting for. * Margaret Kohn, author of The Death and Life of the Urban Commonwealth *
Does solidarity depend on religion? Even in their convincing rejection of disastrous forms of political togetherness, liberals might have to embrace their own version of its religious foundations, Charles Lesch shows in this intrepid and remarkable book. Demonstrating the persistence of religion in secular thought, and the secular relevance of religious thought, Lesch's fine study achieves calm urgency as liberals face another era of turbulence. * Samuel Moyn, Professor of History, Yale University *
In his impressive first major work, Charles Lesch argues for a version of liberal solidarity that draws lessons from religious life without the metaphysical and religious commitments central to most religious communities. While Lesch's account offers new ways to think about issues of concern to political theorists and philosophers, it should inspire anyone who is concerned with the fragmentation of contemporary society that increasingly reduces all to friend or foe. A welcome and important addition not just to the academic literature, but to urgent, pressing issues currently threatening to undermine liberal democratic societies. * Andrew Rehfeld, President and Professor of Political Thought, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion *
This important monograph explores why previous political philosophers have been unable to answer Carl Schmitt's challenge that "liberalism needs solidarity, but solidarity is exogenous to liberalism" (p. 3). In short, liberalism "sustains itself on a dwindling supply of religious resources inherited from its history"...Lesch deserves praise for highlighting the role the nonrational plays in human psychology and for striving to overcome "contemporary political theory's...tin ear to forms of life and politics informed by religion and theology". * Choice *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197583791
Author Charles H.T. Lesch
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 535g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 24mm
About the Author
Charles H. T. Lesch is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research grapples with questions in contemporary political theory and practice by drawing from the history of European political thought, modern and classical Jewish thought, religious studies, social theory, and literature. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, The Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, and The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society. He has won awards including Harvard's Bowdoin Prize and Vanderbilt's Robert Birkby Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and has been a Golda Meir Fellow, Mellon/ACLS Fellow, Harvard Presidential Scholar, Fulbright Fellow, and Edmond J. Safra Graduate Fellow in Ethics.
Reviews
Does justice require a robust experience of solidarity? If so, can liberalism alone supply what is needed? Or must liberal rationality draw upon the resources of religious tradition that may or may not be available in a secular culture? It's hard to imagine questions more essential for political philosophy. Charles Lesch, with his capacious reading, deeply thoughtful reflectiveness, and gift for elegant writing, is wonderfully well-equipped to pose these questions and help us answer them. * Ronald Beiner, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto, and author of Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy *
A landmark book. Following Charles Lesch's well guided footsteps from Carl Schmitt, back to Rousseau and Kant and on to Habermas, Buber and Levinas, and with deep attention to George Eliot's prophetic and profound Daniel Deronda, serious readers will see decisively what is and will remain central in human and humane social and political thinking. * Lenn E. Goodman, author of On Justice and Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself *
In this path-breaking book, Lesch advances the counter-intuitive claim that Jewish thinkers such as Levinas and Buber illuminate the path to solidarity in a secular age. Why do we need solidarity? Liberal theories of justice can tell citizens what to do, but often fall short when it comes to motivating them to discharge their duties. Lesch's erudite study focuses attention on the not-fully rational elements of our psychology and how they can foster justice-enhancing forms of social cohesion. This is the book on solidarity that political theorists have been waiting for. * Margaret Kohn, author of The Death and Life of the Urban Commonwealth *
Does solidarity depend on religion? Even in their convincing rejection of disastrous forms of political togetherness, liberals might have to embrace their own version of its religious foundations, Charles Lesch shows in this intrepid and remarkable book. Demonstrating the persistence of religion in secular thought, and the secular relevance of religious thought, Lesch's fine study achieves calm urgency as liberals face another era of turbulence. * Samuel Moyn, Professor of History, Yale University *
In his impressive first major work, Charles Lesch argues for a version of liberal solidarity that draws lessons from religious life without the metaphysical and religious commitments central to most religious communities. While Lesch's account offers new ways to think about issues of concern to political theorists and philosophers, it should inspire anyone who is concerned with the fragmentation of contemporary society that increasingly reduces all to friend or foe. A welcome and important addition not just to the academic literature, but to urgent, pressing issues currently threatening to undermine liberal democratic societies. * Andrew Rehfeld, President and Professor of Political Thought, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion *
This important monograph explores why previous political philosophers have been unable to answer Carl Schmitt's challenge that "liberalism needs solidarity, but solidarity is exogenous to liberalism" (p. 3). In short, liberalism "sustains itself on a dwindling supply of religious resources inherited from its history"...Lesch deserves praise for highlighting the role the nonrational plays in human psychology and for striving to overcome "contemporary political theory's...tin ear to forms of life and politics informed by religion and theology". * Choice *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197583791
Author Charles H.T. Lesch
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 535g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 24mm
