What Skinner Misses about Machiavelli’s Freedom: Inequality, Corruption, and the Institutional Origins of Civic Virtue

Maher, Amanda

doi:10.1086/686803

Cited by 21 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Cf. also McCormick's student Maher (2016), who criticises Skinner for disregarding ‘socioeconomic’ aspects, and seems generally in line with McCormick, if less ambitious.…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%

Quentin Skinner, contextual method and Machiavelli's understanding of liberty

Regent

2022

History of the Human Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article examines Quentin Skinner's influential interpretation of Machiavelli's views on liberty, and the sharp divergence between his methodological ideas and his actual practice. The paper explores how Skinner's political ideals directed his interpretation against his own methodological precepts, to offer a basis for a ‘revival’ of republican theory. Skinner's reinterpretation of Machiavelli as a theorist of negative liberty is examined, and refuted. The article analyses Skinner's claim about liberty as the key political value for Machiavelli, and demonstrates that liberty is secondary to empire on the list of Machiavelli's priorities. Skinner's vocabulary and efforts to tone down or ignore Machiavelli's more aggressive ideas are closely examined. The analysis offered in the article, it is suggested, has wider implications, showing the difficulty of applying contextualism in practice, by the very founder of this approach in the history of ideas.

show abstract

“…Cf. also McCormick's student Maher (2016), who criticises Skinner for disregarding ‘socioeconomic’ aspects, and seems generally in line with McCormick, if less ambitious.…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%

Quentin Skinner, contextual method and Machiavelli's understanding of liberty

Regent

2022

History of the Human Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…None of this is particularly novel; it is simply a somewhat radicalising extension of tendencies that can be found in the writing of James Madison. Indeed, the idea of inequality and domination as the great drivers of corruption that must be contested by the citizens and institutions of the republic can also be found in Machiavelli's Florentine Histories (Maher 2016).…”

Section: From Sparta To Madisonian Separations Of Private Powersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrocriminology and Freedom

Braithwaite

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A true magnum opus, Macrocriminology and Freedom is a thought provoking and generative book from one of criminology's intellectual giants. John Braithwaite reaches far and wide across societies, time, and disciplines to advance no less than a theory of how to build a society that simultaneously reduces both domination and crime. His ambitious ideas on cascades of non-dominating collective efficacy and crime prevention, for example, and their connections to social movements and political freedom, go well beyond usual criminological discourse. Chock full of theoretical propositions and bold insights, this a book that will keep criminologists busy for years. Macrocriminology and Freedom should not just be read, but better yet, savoured.' -Robert J. Sampson, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University 'In this majestic theorisation of the relationship between crime and freedom John Braithwaite isolates the unique power of macrocriminology as a lens through which to comprehend and challenge many of the fundamental crises facing our planet. Very few scholars have the breadth and overview to succeed in a mission of this order … Braithwaite does. This extraordinary book is an object lesson for all who seek to understand and resist domination and the crimes of power that flow from it.' -Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London 'For over 40 years, John Braithwaite has been a voice of wisdom, hope and humanity in criminology. This dazzling new book weaves together all the main themes of his influential work, reanimating many of the core concepts of the discipline, as well as incorporating interdisciplinary resources from south and north, east and west, to produce an elegant and ambitious explanatory and normative account of crime as freedom-threatening domination. Decentring criminal justice as the solution to crime, Braithwaite shows that, on a global scale, the aspiration to tackle crimes, ranging from interpersonal violence through corporate crimes to ecocide, lies in the development of freedom-enhancing, power-tempering institutions in the political, economic and social spheres.' -Nicola Lacey, Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy, London School of Economics 'Macrocriminology and Freedom is a criminological epic, an expansive and erudite story that sweeps across history and contexts. The book is frightening in showing how cascading events can produce catastrophes from crime to environmental destruction. But in the end, its message is hopeful, identifying pathways-or "normative rivers"-for guiding freedom from domination and crime. Drawing on his distinguished career, John Braithwaite has bestowed an extraordinary gift-a book, like other masterpieces, that will yield special insights each time we take an excursion through its pages.' -

show abstract

“…O problema está em fixar a visão nos discursos e comportamentos corrompidos sem uma correspondente atenção às condições socioeconômicas e institucionais que constituem o ambiente favorável para a proliferação de tais comportamentos. Tem razão uma crítica recente quando afirma que "para Skinner, a razão e as ideias são os fundamentos da virtude", e devido à leitura de Maquiavel por meio de um "enquadramento humanista", ele "negligencia os momentos em que o florentino está claramente preocupado com a compreensão das origens socioeconômicas da corrupção" (Maher, 2016(Maher, :1008. Uma visão mais compreensiva da relação entre desigualdade e corrupção nas repúblicas requer que voltemos aos textos de Maquiavel.…”

Section: Maquiavel E O Neorrepublicanismo Sobre Desigualdade E Corrupçãounclassified

Desigualdade e Corrupção no Republicanismo de Maquiavel

Silva

2020

Dados

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMO O artigo persegue dois objetivos inter-relacionados: 1) contribuir para a interpretação dos enunciados de Maquiavel sobre o papel da desigualdade na corrupção das repúblicas; 2) mostrar que os resultados desse esforço interpretativo contêm lições potencialmente úteis para o redirecionamento e a progressão do programa de pesquisas do republicanismo contemporâneo. Parte-se da hipótese de que os principais expoentes do neorrepublicanismo, em suas leituras de Maquiavel, tendem a subestimar a importância da dimensão socioeconômica da igualdade que embasa a boa ordem republicana. A consequência dessa elisão da dimensão material da igualdade é uma conceituação limitada do tipo de desigualdade que, segundo o pensador florentino, fomenta a corrupção das repúblicas. O argumento desenvolve-se por meio de reconstrução e análise da visão de Maquiavel sobre o papel da desigualdade material na corrupção da república romana, exposta nos Discorsi, e de sua cidade natal, registrada em História de Florença.

show abstract

What Skinner Misses about Machiavelli’s Freedom: Inequality, Corruption, and the Institutional Origins of Civic Virtue

Cited by 21 publications

References 15 publications

Quentin Skinner, contextual method and Machiavelli's understanding of liberty

Quentin Skinner, contextual method and Machiavelli's understanding of liberty

Macrocriminology and Freedom

Desigualdade e Corrupção no Republicanismo de Maquiavel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About