Harold Laski: Problems of Democracy, the Sovereign State, and International Society

PETER LAMB is a Politics instructor in the School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment at Keele University, UK

• Introduction The Evolution of Laski's Thought The Limits of Capitalist Democracy Liberty: A Victim of Capitalist Democracy State Sovereignty and Class Power Problems of International Politics: The Inter-War Era Problems of International Politics: War and the Post-War Order Conclusion: Laski's Enduring Significance

"Lamb has provided an overdue retrieval, sympathetic but fair-minded, based on up-to-date research, of a historically important writer. He explains why Laski's many theoretical projects once attracted such interest and why they can still find some resonance in today's political world. Particularly innovative is Lamb's account of Laski's writings on international politics, largely ignored by earlier commentators. Lamb's study is a much-needed re-appraisal of a significant figure. He shows that many of Laski's concerns turn out to have much in common with those of present-day social democratic commentators - in particular the capacity of a state to effect social justice in conditions of global interdependence." - Geraint Parry, Emeritus Professor of Government, University of Manchester, England "Peter Lamb's study of this overly neglected thinker is a highly relevant recovery. This lucid, well-judged and sympathetic account of Laski's later thought on the 'myth' of the sovereign state is highly pertinent for cosmopolitan democrats, students of normative international relations and seekers of a genuinely radical 'third way'." Jules Townshend, Department of Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University