Freedom Is Power: Liberty through Political Representation
by Lawrence Hamilton.
"This book argues that power is integral to freedom. It demonstrates how freedom depends upon power, and contends that liberty for all citizens is best maintained if conceived as power through political representation. Against those who de-politicise freedom through a romantic conception of ‘the people’ and faith in supposedly independent judicial and political institutions, Lawrence Hamilton argues that real modern freedom can only be achieved through representative and participative mechanisms that limit domination and empower classes and groups who become dis-empowered in the conflicts that inevitably pervade politics." You can purchase the book here or download a PDF of it here....
From the introduction
...This book is the result of a desire to answer a pressing, practical and
often articulated question: are South Africans now free twenty years
after apartheid?
...
while Freedom is Power was inspired by conditions within South Africa,
it stands or falls, I would hope, on the extent to which it provides an
apt conceptual, theoretical framework for answering this kind of practical
question regarding freedom not only in South Africa now but also in
other places and times.
...
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