There is a world-wide debate at the moment about the appropriate role for the state in modern societies in the light of the world financial crisis. This book provides a comprehensive analysis and critique of Neo-liberal or economic liberal ideas on this issue.

Raymond Plant born in 1945. Lecturer in Philosophy University of Manchester 1967; Senior Lecturer from 1974; Professor of Politics University of Southampton and subsequently Dean of Social Sciences between 1979 and 1994; Master of St. Catherine's College Oxford 1994-2000; Research professor of Modern European Political Thought University of Southampton 2000-2; Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Philosophy at King's College Law School from 2002 to the present; Dean and Head of the School between 2006-8; Vincent Wright Professor of Law and Political Philosophy at Sciences Po Paris in 2008. He is the author of 10 books on Political Philosophy. He has taught at the University of Frankfurt and Lisbon.

• Preface


• Introduction


• Part 1 The Basis of the Neo Liberal State


• The Nature of the Neo Liberal State and the Rule of Law


• The Foundations of the Rule of Law as a Moral Ideal


• Freedom, Coercion and the Law


• Social Justice: A Mirage ?


• Neo Liberal Rights


• The Welfare State and the Politics of Social Justice


• Social Justice and the welfare State: Institutional Problems


• Government and Markets


• Government, Money and Taxation


• Part 2 Neo Liberal Principles: A Critical Perspective


• Freedom and Coercion: An Alternative Account


• Social Justice and Neo Liberalism: A Critique


• Neo Liberal Rights: A Wider Perspective


• Concluding Reflections