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This article provides information about the liberation and its various streams of thought:
Liberalism has provided a unique perspective on social, economic and political development. It set out an ideology that has shaped history, and in recent times has made a major come back in the form of neo- liberalism to influence the future course of human development.
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Human history, over the past two hundred years or so, has been, in a sense, one of struggle between supporters of economic liberalism (committed to the principle of the ‘self-regulating market’) and the defenders of ‘society’ (who have sought to regulate the way in which labour is engaged with capital, the exploitation of nature, and the money market).
The struggle has proliferated in the political and ideological domains. Each of the two conflicting perspectives has come out with definite concepts, theories and ideologies, and techniques to realise the respective visions of society. The struggle over the virtues of a ‘flexible’ labour market and the threats which they pose to livelihoods continues. The leading perspectives on development, namely the Marxist and the Liberal, differ on the interpretation of social inequality and the methods to secure justice for the victims of unequal economic, social and political arrangements.
The argument has built on the issue of the scope of market prices. More specifically, the question of relevance here is whether the market forces should be allowed a free reign or there should be a regulation on them. The difference is whether development should be reduced to growth in productivity and per capita income or should it be perceived in a broader perspective in terms of empowering the common people and securing distributive justice for them.
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Ideologically, liberalism has stood out in opposition to the socialist ideals over the past two centuries. It offers us a distinctive vision of society, about freedom and free competition in the field of economic entrepreneurship, and of the role of the state in the control of production and in the promotion of free citizenship.
As a political ideology, liberalism is opposed to any form of political absolutism, be it monarchy, feudalism, militarism or communitarian. It stands for a social and political atmosphere in which authoritarian demands are resisted and the fundamental rights of the’ individuals and groups, such as the right to private property, free exercise of religion, speech and association, are promoted. The philosophical foundation of classical liberalism was shaped in the writings of David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill.
These thinkers constructed the social contract theory based on the idea that human beings are guided by enlightened self-interest, rationality, and’ free choice, and the idea of free development of the individual self in a free atmosphere with minimum of state control. Liberalism was the guiding principle enshrined in the economic doctrine of laissez-faire, which means free promotion of entrepreneurship in production and trade, and in the social and political doctrines of liberty and democracy.
The liberal school, of thought in the economic, social, and political fields is not monolithic; rather there are divergent streams of liberal thoughts, particularly on the question of individual freedom vis-a-vis the state. “Liberalism never constituted a unified and consistent doctrine. It has, rather, been an amalgam of different doctrines, including the Recht Staat, the defence of individual freedom and basic rights, the recognition of pluralism, representative government, the separation of powers, the limitation of the role of the state, rationalistic individualism, and capitalist market economy”.
Some liberals put more emphasis on economic freedom and allow greater government intervention in moral life (the political philosophy embedded in Thatcherism and Reaganism is taken as an example in this line) while others uphold the idea of minimum state intervention in all walks of life. The latter theoretical position is often known as libertarianism.
Libertarianism has its roots in the writings of the seventeenth century English political philosopher John Locke, who emphasised the priority of individual rights to life, liberty and property, and the elimination of coercive intervention by the state, which is taken as the prime violator of liberty. Above all, individual liberty is an identifiable marker of conservative thought (the guiding ideology of the British Conservative and American Liberal parties).
American philosopher Robert Nozick and the economist Fredrich Hayek are among the modern protagonists of libertarianism in their respective fields. Nozick argues in favour of reducing the role of the state to a mere “protection agency” for the citizens. Hayek holds that the ideal economic and political arrangement and interpersonal relationships are modeled on market exchanges the role of the government is reduced to maintaining order and providing public services that involve formidable initial capital services.
The libertarian ideals have found strongest support in the United States wherein conservatism and neo-liberalism are easily blended. In essence, libertarianism calls for human action not guided by any form of determinism.
Liberalism has been allied with the progress of the capitalist world. Its subscribers seek to remove restraints upon the capacity of individuals to participate economic competition. They have argued that the economic independence associated with capitalist regimes also breeds a sense of moral independence. Liberals, in this sense, can be said to favour a process of embourgeoisement in which everyone will eventually adopt attitudes compatible with a competitive economy.
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The history of liberalism reveals a succession of strategies to extend rights which, it is judged, will secure the economic and moral independence of individuals. The different versions of liberal ism foresee a one-class society consisting of self-governing citizens. The liberal ideal of a community is where despite inequalities of wealth self-discipline and mutual respect are upheld.