MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 03099mam a2200301 a 4500
001 1547151
005 20220608184803.0
008 941122s1994 nyu b 001 0 eng d
020 $a0713991143 :$c$27.95
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm31500988
035 $9AKC9121CU
035 $a(NNC)1547151
035 $a1547151
040 $aBKL$cBKL$dEXW
100 1 $aGellner, Ernest.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80016936
245 10 $aConditions of liberty :$bcivil society and its rivals /$cErnest Gellner.
260 $aNew York, N.Y. :$bAllen Lane/Penguin Press,$c1994.
300 $a225 pages ;$c23 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 216-219) and index.
505 0 $a1. A Slogan is Born -- 2. The Two Neighbours -- 3. Islam -- 4. The Marxist Failure -- 5. The Successful Umma -- 6. A Contrast between the Abrahamic Faiths -- 7. Civil Society Completes the Circle -- 8. Adam Ferguson -- 9. East is East and West is West -- 10. Political Centralization and Economic Decentralization -- 11. Ideological Pluralism and Liberal Doublethink, or the End of the Enlightenment Illusion -- 12. Modular Man -- 13. Modular Man is a Nationalist -- 14. Friend or Foe? -- 15. The Time Zones of Europe -- 16. The Varieties of Nationalist Experience -- 17. Easternmost Zone Resumed -- 18. A Note on Atomization -- 19. The End of a Moral Order -- 20. From the Interstices of a Command-admin System -- 21. The Definition of Socialism -- 22. A New Positive Definition -- 23. Towards a Desirable Unholy Alliance -- 24. Democracy or Civil Society -- 25. Historical Overview -- 26. Future Prospects -- 27. Internal Problems -- 28. The Range of Options -- 29. Validation?
520 $aAs Ernest Gellner shows in this path-breaking book, the most significant difference between communism (and other totalitarian ideologies) and Western liberalism is the existence of the civil society - the intermediary institutions like trade unions, political parties, religions, pressure groups and clubs which fill the gap between the family and the state. Under communism the civil society was suppressed. In liberal democracy it thrives.
520 8 $aIf life is to improve in Eastern Europe, the civil society must be encouraged to grow and prosper: the early signs - as observed by the doyen of British social anthropology - are good. The contrast with militant Islam is extraordinary: while Marxism as a faith has collapsed, Islam has been growing ever stronger. In fundamentalist states like Iran there is little civil society and apparently not much pressure for one, either. Why is there so little resistance or opposition? How can this be understood?
520 8 $aThis is an extremely important book and a major contribution to the 'end of history' debate by one of the most distinguished scholars working in Europe today.
650 0 $aCivil society.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90004194
650 0 $aCivil society$xHistory.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2009120290
852 00 $bbar$hJC336$i.G46 1994g