About the Journal

Aims & scope:

The theoretical debate concerning the distinction between right and good, as well as the attempt to draw a line between political consensus and moral conflicts, are fundamental aspects of a normative approach to political theory.

A grounding ideal of political liberalism concerns the possibility of determining a public and neutral terrain in which conflicts may be solved, or at least mitigated, notwithstanding the strong disagreement among political agents. The liberal paradigm – in its different models – maintains that a reflexive exchange of reasons among participants might grant the resolution of clashes due to the scarcity of goods to distribute and/or to the impossibility to solve disagreement once for all.

Since the fact of pluralism is nowadays assumed as an unavoidable premise of contemporary societies, political theorists have tried to establish new strategies for managing political conflicts, in order to grant the legitimacy of political decisions, while fully respecting the agency of the members of the constituency. Along these lines, a traditional liberal response maintains that, since members of the society hold different conceptions of the good, political decisions cannot be made referring to a specific conception of the good, otherwise the legitimacy of such decisions would be put in danger.

Keeping in mind the long standing tradition of Centro Einaudi for multidisciplinary researches on the verge between ethics, political theory, social science, economics, legal theory, «Bdl» aims at enriching the debate among scholars, intellectuals and engaged citizens.

This wide perspective concerning intrinsic tensions of the liberal paradigm constitute the theoretical background of the new editorial project of «Biblioteca della libertà».

The new editorial line of «Bdl» has a main goal: foster the discussion about original and theoretically grounded versions of “pragmatic liberalism” – respecting both the fact of pluralism and the liberal ideal of political equality.

With reference to the contemporary strands of research concerning political liberalism, this editorial project intends to establish a vivid exchange of opinions, keeping in mind the legacy of Einaudi’s thought. The possibility of enriching Einaudi legacy thank to a debate with the contemporary literature – addressing pressing political, economic and legal issues – is one of main goal of the project «Biblioteca della libertà».

Different lines of research can be developed within such theoretical paradigm:

- The political strategies for solving conflict, while respecting the intrinsic pluralism of contemporary societies;

- Deliberative models of democracy;

- The tension between individual freedom and market dynamics;

- Normative issues on social justice;

- Welfare;

- Human rights;

- European union;

- Negotiation models;

- Ideal and Non-ideal theory;

- Transitional justice;

- Multiculturalism;

- Judicial review;

- Gender and race equality;

- Democratization.