About the Book

This second edition authoritative guide to communitarianism brings together political theory with key practical global case studies from the state, business and voluntary sectors.

Book Synopsis

This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Henry Tam's Communitarianism brings different strands of communitarian thought together into a critical synthesis, at the centre of which is the ideal of inclusive communities based on the three principles of mutual responsibility, cooperative enquiry, and citizen participation.

Tam shows how communitarian ideas can be applied in practice, addressing key problems in social, economic, and political life, with case studies from the state, business, and voluntary sectors to demonstrate how we can more effectively respond to the major problems facing society.

With key pedagogical features including a timeline of the emergence of key communitarian ideas, diagrams illustrating conceptual differences relating to communitarian, authoritarian and individualist thinking, and a selection of global case studies and further readings, this is the authoritative guide to the theory and practice of communitarianism.

Review Quotes

"Communitarianism is no work of utopian fiction, and nor does it claim to be, but it does offer a framework to explore ways in which we might build a better future. Its uncompromising insistence on placing those who are affected by power at the heart of deciding how it should be used is refreshing to see." --Teaching Citizenship

"A scholarly overview of the subject combined with an agenda for political practice and reform. The book is an excellent statement of the communitarian approach to politics and citizenship." --Desmond King, Times Higher Education Supplement

"This timely book brilliantly demonstrates how both individuals and society benefit from thinking and working together. At a period of growing authoritarian populism its insights are a vital resource for understanding how to break down the barriers communities face, and enable a better world for all." --Diane Reay, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Cambridge; Visiting Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science

"Henry Tam has executed an important task with this readable and timely book: he unpacks the philosophical, political, sociological, and educational meanings of community. In so doing, he argues that between binaries of authoritarianism and competitive individualism, communitarian ideals are both more humane and central to the human condition. Tam provides a compelling, principled defense of why a re-centering of inclusive community relations and structures in democratic societies is not a nostalgic move backwards, but an essential way forward." --Professor Kathleen Knight Abowitz, Miami University, Ohio, USA

About the Author

Henry Tam has been Lecturer at the University of Cambridge; Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London; and Head of Civil Renewal in the UK Government. His books include Time to Save Democracy (2018), The Evolution of Communitarian Ideas (2019), Tomorrow's Communities (2021), and Who's Afraid of Political Education (2023).