Abstract

COSTA, Marta Nunes da. Paradoxes of Liberal Policy: racial and gender challenges in today’s USA. Diacrítica [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.2, pp.267-276. ISSN 0807-8967.

Liberalism, democracy, freedom and equality are concepts that one tends to easily overlap with each other. However, the analytical distinction between these concepts is not only a theoretical move; it stands equally for a difference of fact. The goal of this essay is to explore this analytical distinction and show how liberalism and inequality are, unfortunately, compatible. Based on a review of literature I will argue that the task for social scientists is to account for the contradictory impulses and forms liberalism take, with the goal of identifying or creating the paths where liberalism can promote democratic goals instead of undermining them.

Keywords : democracy; equality; liberalism; ideology.

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