History of Western Political Thought (Volume 5: Since World War II)

Author: Xu Datong, Chief Editor; Ma Depu, Volume Editor
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2008-09-29
Features: This volume primarily studies the development and evolution of Western political thought since World War II, with a focus on introducing 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 outstanding characteristics of political thought during this period are: the vibrant diversity of various political trends, which both clash and mutually borrow and permeate one another; while simultaneously, capitalism and socialism as the two major ideological systems become the focal point of conflict. After World War II, both 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 emergence of new conservatism and led to the rise of emerging trends such as ecologism and feminism. In the 1980s, new conservatism flourished, left-wing thought suffered setbacks, the Soviet Union collapsed, and socialist movements entered a low ebb. However, in the late 1990s, socialist movements began to revive, and social democracy advocating the "third way" once again gained prominence.