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Philosophy Political

Network Democracy

Conservative Politics and the Violence of the Liberal Age

by (author) Jared Giesbrecht

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2017
Category
Political
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773548541
    Publish Date
    Jan 2017
    List Price
    $50.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773550742
    Publish Date
    Jan 2018
    List Price
    $43.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773548213
    Publish Date
    Jan 2017
    List Price
    $100.00

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Description

Network Democracy uses the contemporary tools of ecology and network thinking to unearth the ancient, intellectual ruins of traditional conservative thought.

Questioning the West’s veneration of freedom, equality, contractual citizenship, economic progress, cosmopolitanism, secular institutionalism, and reason, Jared Giesbrecht illuminates how these ideals fuel violence and insecurity in our high-speed lives. While the modern age witnesses the rise of a violent conservatism in the form of revolutionary movements enacting terror and vengeance for the interventions of the liberal West, this study reveals a different kind of conservatism - one that has emerged in direct conversation with liberal thought. Giesbrecht highlights the need for intermediate institutions and civil enterprises that form relations and traditions independent of the state in order to develop resistance to the insecurity of the liberal age. This book offers not only a poignant critique, but a constructive and peaceable alternative to the violence of both liberalism and reactionary anti-liberalism.

Attuned to the new realities of globalization, advanced technology, and social acceleration, Network Democracy is a masterful hybrid of ancient and cutting-edge political philosophy that casts a new light on the values underlying western civilization.

About the author

Jared Giesbrecht practises law in Fort Saint John, British Columbia.

Jared Giesbrecht's profile page