Rethinking Liberty before Liberalism

Rethinking Liberty before Liberalism by Hannah Dawson, published by Cambridge University Press on February 3, 2022, is a new edition comprising 330 pages in English. This book explores new histories of freedom and republicanism, building on Quentin Skinner’s influential work, Liberty before Liberalism. It features contributions from leading historians and philosophers who examine the neo-Roman conception of liberty as a significant normative and historical framework.

Readers will find reinterpretations of key thinkers such as Montaigne, Grotius, and Locke, while the text delves into the implications of neo-Roman liberty within various hierarchies and structures, including gender, slavery, and democracy. The volume also reassesses the connections between neo-Romanism and other political ideologies, including liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and the human rights tradition. The work culminates in a major reappraisal by Skinner, providing a comprehensive examination of these themes in political thought.