Community, Solidarity and Belonging: Levels of Community and their Normative Significance

Despite the frequency with which the term community is used, it is hard to find any comprehensive exploration of the nature and value of community. This book tries to remedy this omission whilst taking seriously the idea that community can be of different kinds and can exist at different levels, and that these levels and kinds may come into conflict with one another. It focuses on the question of what kind of community is valuable at the level of the state. It then explores the limits that ideals of political community place upon cultural diversity within the state, and the limits that, in turn, ideals of global community place upon the self-determination of political communities. This book will be of interest to students of political theory, philosophy and international relations.

• An accessible study of the nature and value of communities • Topical - looks at the relationship between political community and cultural diversity • Appeal to political theory, philosophy and IR people

Introduction; Part I. Community and its Value: 1. The nature of community; 2. The value of community; Part II. Political Community in a Culturally Diverse Society: 3. Liberal political community and illiberal minorities; 4. Republican political community; 5. National community: the benefits of a sense of belonging together; 6. Multicultural education for an inclusive political community; Part III. Political Community and the Limits of Global Community: 7. The ideal of global community and the principle of non-intervention; 8. Political communities, global solidarity and the state system; Conclusion.

‘Andrew Mason has written an illuminating and wonderfully stimulating book about important and difficult issues. Students of political thoery, philosophy, and international relations should read it not merely with interest, but with profit.’ Richard Dagger, Arizona State University