Moral Socialism and Liberal Citizenship

Stevenson, Nick

Abstract

The current crisis of liberal democracy has led to a reconsideration of the idea of socialism. This article seeks to critically compare three different approaches to socialism, all of which draw on specifically moral criteria. The first is a form of liberal socialism that has a long history in critical theory and has most recently been re-imagined by Axel Honneth through a theory of recognition. The second is a conservative version of socialism, which encourages citizens to return to native traditions that can restrain the destructive individualism of liberalism. Finally, I look at a more materialist version of socialism that can be associated with the writing of Marx. In the concluding section, I argue that the return to a materialist vision of moral socialism is long overdue; this is especially the case in the context of the impoverished cultural life of neoliberal capitalism, and the ongoing ecological crisis.

Citation

Stevenson, N. (2025). Moral Socialism and Liberal Citizenship. Critical Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241311503

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 18, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Deposit Date: Dec 18, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 19, 2024
• Journal: Critical Sociology
• Print ISSN: 0896-9205
• Electronic ISSN: 1569-1632
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241311503
• Keywords: capitalism; class; neoliberalism; recognition; socialism; liberalism; sociology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/43094776
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08969205241311503