De Tocqueville (Founders of Modern Political and Social Thought)
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Oxford University Press
Published: January 22, 2001
Language: eng
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9780198781318
First sentence: The distinctive voice of Alexis de Tocqueville-analytical but not arid, detached but not disengaged, passionate but not partisan-has spoken directly to many audiences, and not only to French ones.
Description: "Welch argues that Tocqueville's major themes tap into deep anxieties about democratic practices and that his writings help us to identify some of the major fault lines in democracy at the turn of the new century. Beginning with consideration of Tocqueville's distinctiveness against the historical background and intellectual context of his time, Welch goes on to trace the development of his thought on democracy and revolution, freedom and history, slavery, religion, and gender, including chapters dealing with his major writings on the United States and France. The final chapter then explores Tocqueville's historical legacy and his contemporary significance, illuminating the reasons why this displaced nineteenth-century aristocrat has become one of the most topical and debated figures in contemporary political and social theory."--BOOK JACKET.