Freedom of Association, Volume I: In Theory

This two-volume set addresses freedom of association, one of the central liberties associated with classical liberalism. The concept of freedom of association has been largely neglected by political and moral philosophers over the past several centuries, despite the fact that the freedom to associate with fellow citizens (and non-citizens) is an implication of almost every version of liberalism capaciously considered. These two volumes take freedom of association seriously both as a theoretical concept and as an integral part of any genuine liberal regime. This first volume considers freedom of association from a theoretical perspective. It considers the freedom of association in conversation with negative liberty, moral pluralism, communitarianism, polycentric democracy, and republicanism.

Luke C. Sheahan is Associate Professor of Political Science at Duquesne University and a Senior Affiliate in the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of Why Associations Matter: The Case for First Amendment Pluralism (2020) and editor of International Comparative Approaches to Free Speech and Open Inquiry (2022).

Kenneth B. McIntyre is Professor of Political Science at Sam Houston State University. He is the author of The Limits of Political Theory: Michael Oakeshott on Civil Association (2004), Herbert Butterfield: History, Providence, and Skeptical Politics (2011), and Nomocratic Pluralism: Plural Values, Negative Liberty, and the Rule of Law (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), and co-editor of Critics of Enlightenment Rationalism, and Critics of Enlightenment Rationalism Revisited (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).