The Death of Communal Liberty: A History of Freedom in a Swiss Mountain Canton

by Benjamin R. Barber

Switzerland today is faced with a profound dilemma―its village life is dying, a casualty of the collision between communal norms and the need for national survival in an industrial, urbanizing world. Benjamin Barber traces the origins and evolution of communal liberty in the group of alpine villages that make up modern Canton Graubunden, and recreates their poignant thousand-year struggle to maintain this tradition in the face of a hostile environment, hierarchical feudal institutions, and European power polities.

Originally published in 1974.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Genres: Politics, History, Political Science

314 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1974

About the author

American political theorist perhaps best known for his 1996 bestseller, Jihad vs. McWorld.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book. Not great. Did not learn nearly as much as hoped about one of history’s few great examples of direct democracy.