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Universality
Political theory has conventionally proceeded on the basis that its insights are applicable universally. The universal applicability of political theory is now far less self-evident, due to challenges to the idea of universality from a number of quarters, including communitarianism, feminism, and postmodernism. These challenges have led some to abandon the ideal of universality, while leading others to rethink and reinterpret the notion of universality.
Accounts of the debate over the utility of universality within political theory have generally proceeded through delineating the oppositional relationship of liberal and communitarian theory. Liberalism is cast as adhering to the value of universality, in its insistence on the necessity for neutral universal norms derived by abstracting people from their particular situation. Communitarianism disputes liberalism's elevation of abstract individualism. Instead, ...
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