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The rhetoric of reaction : perversity, futility, jeopardy
Title
The rhetoric of reaction : perversity, futility, jeopardy / Albert O. Hirschman.
ISBN
9780674768673
0674768671
9780674768680
067476868X
Publication
Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [1991]
Physical Description
xi, 197 pages ; 21 cm.
Other formats
Online version: Hirschman, Albert O. Rhetoric of reaction. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ©1991
Format
Books
Language
English
Added to Catalog
January 17, 2024
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-185) and index.
Contents
Two hundred years of reactionary rhetoric
Three reactions and three reactionary theses
A note on the term "reaction"
The perversity thesis
The French revolution and proclamation of the perverse effect
Universal suffrage and its alleged perverse effects
The poor laws and the Welfare state
Reflections on the perversity thesis
The futility thesis
Questioning the extent of change wrought by the French revolution: Tocqueville
Questioning the extent of change likely to follow from universal suffrage: Mosca and Pareto
Questioning the extent to which the Welfare State "Delivers the goods" to the poor
Reflections on the futulity thesis
The jeopardy thesis
Democracy as a threat to liberty
The Welfare state as a threat to liberty and democracy
Reflections on the jeopardy thesis
The three theses compared and combined
A synoptic table
The comparative influence of the theses
Some simple interactions
A more complex interaction
From reactionary to progressive rhetoric
The synergy illusion and the imminent-danger thesis
"Having history on one's side"
Counterparts of the perversity thesis
Beyond intransigence
A turnabout in argument?
How Not to argue in a democracy.
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