Citizenship in the Western Tradition: Plato to Rousseau

by Peter Riesenberg

Overview

Intended for both general readers and students, Peter Riesenberg's instructive book surveys Western ideas of citizenship from Greek antiquity to the French Revolution. It is striking to observe the persistence of important civic ideals and institutions over a period of 2,500 years and to learn how those ideals and institutions traveled over space and time, from the ancient Mediterranean to early modern France, England, and America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807864128
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Riesenberg, professor emeritus of history at Washington University, is author of Inalienability of Sovereignty in Medieval Political Thought.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Balanced, erudite, and accessible.—Library Journal

An appealing project, touching on important aspects of present-day political debate while exploiting a rich historical background. Riesenberg offers nothing short of a survey of Western thought concerning citizenship, from Greek antiquity to 1789. The use of ancient sources is impressive, as is the selection of medieval and early modern European references.—Franklin L. Ford, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

The concept of citizenship establishes a hierarchy, defining who belongs and who is excluded from the community. It enumerates rights and privileges as well as duties and responsibilities. It is an instrument of social control but also the means of drawing out the best of its members. Focusing on these themes, historian Riesenberg traces the development of the concept of citizenship as it responded to new circumstances and the shifting boundary of the community from the ancient Greek and Roman polis through the medieval and Renaissance Italian city-state to the absolutist state before the French Revolution. Balanced, erudite, and accessible, this work will interest both the specialist and lay reader.-- T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.

Library Journal

Balanced, erudite, and accessible.

Library Journal

An appealing project, touching on important aspects of present-day political debate while exploiting a rich historical background.

Franklin L. Ford, Harvard University

From the Publisher