Il socialismo liberale: Carlo Rosselli

In order to investigate issues somehow neglected, the paper tries to carefully outline both the economic and institutional aspect and the origins and development of the Florentine anti-fascist thought. Much has been written about Carlo Rosselli's liberal socialism; still interpretations are often based more on subjective views than on in-depth studies, and this is especially true when it is the current political situation which tries to interpret Rosselli’s thought. Several scholars approached Carlo Rosselli’s thought assuming that the adjective ‘liberal’ can be translated as ‘liberalistic’, that the noun ‘socialist’ can be replaced with ‘welfare’ (of a moderate sort in addition), and finally that the State he theorized proves little interventionist in social and economic life; but this does not seem to be a correct interpretative key.

Against Egalitarianism

Highly redistributive taxation and left-wing regimes like property-owning democracy and liberal socialism cannot create trust for the right reasons. They are either likely to reduce social and political trust or cannot be publicly justified, or both. For example, property-owning democracy and liberal socialism are likely to sacrifice economic growth, violating the principle of sustainable improvements, and undermining the economic bases for political trust in particular. However, liberal societies can probably increase trust for the right reasons by adopting coercion-reducing policies aimed at compressing economic inequalities, such as reducing local control over residential zoning. The market may also be restricted to protect workers from workplace coercion. This chapter addresses important work on the matter from John Rawls, Thomas Piketty, and Martin Gilens.

Is Liberal Socialism Possible? Reflections on “Real Utopias”

This essay, written in memory of Erik Olin Wright (1947–2019), explores the possibility of liberal socialism. Wright sought to rescue both liberalism and socialism from their demonstrated capacity for depredation. His legacy challenges reformers to proceed with the audacity of real, and realistic, utopianism together with an awareness that, unfortunately, the obverse of an appealing utopianism always beckons.