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University Press of America Tocquevillian Ideas Contemporary European Perspectives 2014 Edition by Zbigniew Rau, Marek Tracz-Tryniecki
This book offers a new, European-centered approach to Tocqueville's thought. Although Tocqueville is often revered as a classic writer on the subject of American democracy, this book focuses on the multifaceted importance of his ideas within a European context. This collection of essays presents Tocqueville's vision of a diverse and united Old Continent, exploring his ideas of liberty, virtue, religion, patriotism, greatness, civic participation and democracy. These thoughts are analyzed not only in the context of Tocqueville's output, but also in the light of their potential to describe the dilemmas of contemporary Europe and to offer remedies for its problems. Table of contents :- 1. Tocqueville and Europe: What Can We Learn from Him about the Past, the Present and the Future of the Old Continent?By Zbigniew Rau and Marek Tracz-TrynieckiA prophetThe American Experience-UnityEuropean Experience-DiversityThe European Idea-UnityTocqueville and the Crisis of the European Integration ProjectConcluding Remarks: Towards a Toquevillean Notion of European Unity2. Tocqueville: A Thinker of FreedomBy Cengiz CaglaTocquevillian Liberty State, Society and Democracy Threats to Liberty in Democracies: Lefort and Richter readers of TocquevilleConclusion3. Patriotism in Democracy: What We Learn from TocquevilleBy Ewa AtanassowPolitical Sociology of PatriotismPolitical Psychology of PatriotismPsychology of Patriotism ReconsideredPatriotism in DemocracyIn Conclusion: What do we learn from Tocqueville?4. Tocqueville on Citizen ParticipationBy Marinus R.R. OssewaardeIntroductionCitizen participation according to TocquevilleCitizen participation and the era of global capitalismCitizen participation, nature and the stateCitizen participation and the divine significance of democracyCitizen participation and the heroism of reasonSome further reflections on freedom5. Tocqueville and the Democratic ChurningBy Attila K. MolnarThe upgraduation of democracyWhat is democracy, and what is not.Individualism-the ens completumThe multitudeCollectivist individualismBeautiful democracy? 6. Religion, Virtue and the Ennobling of Democracy: Tocqueville's Vision of Civic SocietyBy Oliver HidalgoThe Problem of Modern Civil Society: Freedom vs. EqualityReligion and Virtue as Conditions of a Free Civil SocietyCatholicism against PantheismConclusion: Ennobling Democracy7. Human Dignity versus Greatness: Tocqueville's DilemmaBy Marek Tracz-TrynieckiHuman dignityGreatnessAlgeriaConclusion8. The American Melting Pot as Reductionist Kettle: Religious Liberty's Worrisome ConditionBy William R. Stevenson, JrBibliographyList of AuthorsInformation on the Alexis de Tocqueville Centre for Political and Legal Thought