History of Western Political Thought. Volume 5, Since World War II

Author: Xu Datong (Main Editor) / Ma Depu (Volume Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This volume primarily studies the development and evolution of Western political thought since World War II, focusing on the political ideas of figures such as Popper, Arendt, Darwin, Rawls, Hayek, Oakeshott, Berlin, Friedman, Nozick, Aron, Sartori, Voegelin, Bell, Niebitt, MacIntyre, Marcuse, Fromm, Sartre, Lefebvre, Althusser, Habermas, Lyotard, Foucault, Deleuze, Rorty, Maritain, Olson, Buchanan, Lipset, Dahrendorf, Easton, Almond, Pye, Inglehart, Huntington, and others. The prominent characteristics of political thought during this period include the vibrant diversity of various political trends, which both clash and mutually inspire and permeate one another. At the same time, the two major ideological categories of capitalism and socialism become the focal point of conflict. After World War II, the two major ideological trends of neoliberalism and social democracy experienced significant development, becoming the political practices of most Western countries and driving the construction of Western welfare states. However, the new problems caused by welfare state policies led to the rise of new left-wing radicalism and the outbreak of new left-wing movements. The capitalist political and economic crises of the late 1960s and early 1970s gave rise to the rise of new conservatism and led to the emergence of emerging trends such as ecologism and feminism. In the 1980s, new conservatism flourished, left-wing trends suffered setbacks, the Soviet Union collapsed, and socialist movements fell into a low ebb. But in the late 1990s, socialist movements began to revive, and social democracy advocating the "third way" once again rose to prominence.