J. A. Hobson was one of the most influential social, economic and political theorists of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain. In this volume, first published in 1990, eight scholars reassess the importance and relevance of his work today and affirm him as a major British thinker. These original studies place Hobson in context by explaining his intellectual antecedents: Cobden, Ruskin, nineteenth-century social and psychological theories and economic thought. The book provides an overview of the novelty and incisiveness of Hobson's contribution to British liberal theory and radical practice. Historians, economists, social and political theorists and students of international affairs will find this an important book for a fuller understanding of early twentieth-century British progressive thought.

J.A. Hobson was an influential social, economic and political theorist at the turn of the century. Fifty years after his death, eight scholars reassess the importance and relevance of his work today and affirm him as a major British thinker.

The year 2002 sees the centenary of J. A. Hobson's Imperialism: A Study, the most influential critique of British imperial expansion ever written. P. J. Cain marks the occasion by evaluating, for the first time, Hobson's writings on imperialism from his days as a journalist in London to his death in 1940. The early chapters chart Hobson's progress from complacent imperialist in the 1880s to radical critic of empire by 1898. This is followed by an account of the origins of Imperialism and a close analysis of the text in the context of contemporary debates. Two chapters cover Hobson's later writings, showing their richness and variety, and analysing his decision to republish Imperialism in 1938. The author discusses the reception of Imperialism and its emergence as a 'classic' by the late 1930s and ends with a detailed discussion of the relevance of the arguments of Imperialism to present-day historians.

J.A. Hobson has not always received the attention he deserves. This collection of essays, drawn from the conference to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his death, will go a considerable way in rectifying this situation. This volume contains contributions from many of the leading scholars on Hobson. They are writing on a wide range of subjects from political theory, moral philosophy, imperialism, international relations to economics.

English economist John Hobson’s 1902 Imperialism: A Study was an epoch-making study of the politics and economics of imperialism that shook imperialist beliefs to their core. A committed liberal, Hobson was deeply sceptical about the aims and claims of imperialistic thought at a time when Britain’s empire held sway over a vast portion of the globe. In order to critique what he saw as a falsely reasoned and immoral political view, Hobson’s book took a cuttingly analytical approach to the idea of imperialism – setting out to dissect and understand the arguments for empire before subjecting them to withering evaluation – a process that led him to the key insight that the then widely-accepted claim that imperialism was essentially a question of nationalism was, in fact, quite weak. Instead, Hobson’s close analysis of the implicit and hidden reasons for imperialist projects demonstrated that, at root, they were all products of capitalism. It became increasingly clear to him that imperialism was less a political ideology, and more the product of the urgent need to open up new markets and remedy economic stagnation at home. Deeply provocative at the time, Hobson’s book shows just how powerful the critical thinking skills of analysis and evaluation can be when applied to deconstruction of even the most widely accepted of ideas.

John A. Hobson is widely recognised as the most important British New Liberal thinker of politics and political economy of the twentieth century. The Selected Writings of John A. Hobson showcases an exciting and previously unpublished collection of Hobson's writings and lectures from 1932-1938 that Hobson presented at the South Place Ethical Society in the last decade of his life. The lectures and the introduction produce a fresh reading of Hobson’s thinking and theorization of International Relations, thereby revealing a much more complex thinker than has conventionally been understood. Edited by Colin Tyler, a framing introduction written by the author’s great grandson, John M. Hobson situates these lectures in the context of his life-work on International Relations between 1897 and 1940. Selected Writings of John A. Hobson 1932-1938 is an essential read for all Hobson scholars and students and scholars of globalization and political economy.

Liberalism is the dominant ideology of our time, yet its character remains the subject of intense scholarly and political controversy. Inspired by the work of Michael Freeden, this book brings together an internationally-respected cast of scholars to debate liberalism and to redefine the very essence of what it is to be a liberal.

This book claims that in addition to autonomy, liberal tradition recognizes human flourishing as an ideal of the good life. There are two versions of the liberalism of flourishing: for one the good life consists in the ability of an individual to develop her intellectual and moral capabilities, and for the other the good life is one in which an individual succeeds in materializing her varied human capabilities. Both versions expect the state to create the background conditions for flourishing. Combining the history of ideas with analytical political philosophy, Menachem Mautner finds the roots of the liberalism of flourishing in the works of great philosophers, and argues that for individuals to reach flourishing they need to engage with art. Art provides us with wisdom, insight, critical social and political thinking, and moral education. Thus, a state which practices the liberalism of flourishing must play an active role in funding the creation and dissemination of art. Consequently, the liberalism of flourishing is better equipped than autonomy liberalism to compete with religion in the domains of meaning and over the shape of the regime, the political culture and the law in countries in which liberalism is contested. Political theorists and lawyers will enjoy engaging with this version of liberalism, as will students of social democracy and art policy.

The economic theories of the English economist and social scientist J.A. Hobson (1858-1940) were pioneering for their time. This book critically analyses his theories and shows that many of them have contemporary relevance. Hobson is best known by today's economists for his underconsumption theory, which was recognised by Keynes as an important forerunner of The General Theory. Hobson's underconsumption theory is modelled and compared with the economic growth theories of Harrod and Domar. Also included are accounts of Hobson's theories in the areas of welfare economics, income distribution and prices, money and credit, and international economics. The book also outlines Hobson's theory of imperialism, which was addressed to an audience far wider than that of economists, and gained him international fame.