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Liberty and Security
All aspire to liberty and security in their lives but few people truly enjoy them. This book explains why this is so. In what Conor Gearty calls our 'neo-democratic' world, the proclamation of universal liberty and security is mocked by facts on the the vast inequalities in supposedly free societies, the authoritarian regimes with regular elections, and the terrible socio-economic deprivation camouflaged by cynically proclaimed commitments to human rights.
Gearty's book offers an explanation of how this has come about, providing also a criticism of the present age which tolerates it. He then goes on to set out a manifesto for a better future, a place where liberty and security can be rich platforms for everyone's life.
The book identifies neo-democracies as those places which play at democracy so as to disguise the injustice at their core. But it is not just the new 'democracies' that have turned 'neo', the so-called established democracies are also hurtling in the same direction, as is the United Nations.
A new vision of universal freedom is urgently required. Drawing on scholarship in law, human rights and political science this book argues for just such a vision, one in which the great achievements of our democratic past are not jettisoned as easily as were the socialist ideals of the original democracy-makers.
Gearty's book offers an explanation of how this has come about, providing also a criticism of the present age which tolerates it. He then goes on to set out a manifesto for a better future, a place where liberty and security can be rich platforms for everyone's life.
The book identifies neo-democracies as those places which play at democracy so as to disguise the injustice at their core. But it is not just the new 'democracies' that have turned 'neo', the so-called established democracies are also hurtling in the same direction, as is the United Nations.
A new vision of universal freedom is urgently required. Drawing on scholarship in law, human rights and political science this book argues for just such a vision, one in which the great achievements of our democratic past are not jettisoned as easily as were the socialist ideals of the original democracy-makers.
- GenresPolitics
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2017
Absolutely phenomenal. Gearty assesses how liberty and security must be balanced in the so-called War on Terror
June 11, 2013
Author Conor Gearty is a Professor of Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
The real question about 'liberty' and 'security' is to whom these ideals apply in practice, and what is a government's remit, or scope of authority, when it comes to facilitating a society where both liberty and security are broad-based. Gearty uses the term neo-liberal to name those who use the language of broad-based liberty and security to cloak underlying motives that would limit the extent of these goals in practice.
Edward Snowden and the NSA telecommunications database are all over the news lately (June 2013.) Here's a link to a debate on the subject of Liberty and Security (i.e. The Government Communications Headquarters.) The debate was held by the British House of Commons June 10, 2013: http://bit.ly/11duVqU
Gearty's writing is incisive as is his rhetoric. His wit is evident and also quite entertaining as he defends Liberty and Security in an LSE public forum here: http://bit.ly/15ShyQc
The real question about 'liberty' and 'security' is to whom these ideals apply in practice, and what is a government's remit, or scope of authority, when it comes to facilitating a society where both liberty and security are broad-based. Gearty uses the term neo-liberal to name those who use the language of broad-based liberty and security to cloak underlying motives that would limit the extent of these goals in practice.
Edward Snowden and the NSA telecommunications database are all over the news lately (June 2013.) Here's a link to a debate on the subject of Liberty and Security (i.e. The Government Communications Headquarters.) The debate was held by the British House of Commons June 10, 2013: http://bit.ly/11duVqU
Gearty's writing is incisive as is his rhetoric. His wit is evident and also quite entertaining as he defends Liberty and Security in an LSE public forum here: http://bit.ly/15ShyQc
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews