Author: Haroon Khalil

It is generally said that Marx did not develop a coherent or systematic theory of the State82 per se and it is difficult to acquire any clear unitary theory of the State.83 While this is true, it is not that Marx did not touch upon the relationship between class and the State. The following references and writings…

In our discussion on the Marxian (Class) theory of origin of the State, we have seen that the Marxian conception of state is rooted in the understanding that the State is an instrument in the hands of the propertied class of society. The State originated at a particular time in historical evolution and is linked…

In our discussion on the Marxian (Class) theory of origin of the State, we have seen that the Marxian conception of state is rooted in the understanding that the State is an instrument in the hands of the propertied class of society. The State originated at a particular time in historical evolution and is linked…

As a reaction to the growing thickness of the state as a welfare flag- bearer and interventionist mechanism in the economic sphere, a new stream of critique emerged. This is led by the neo-liberals or the Libertarians, chiefly amongst them are Friedrich A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, Isaiah Berlin and Robert Nozick. Their main opposition to the…

Starting from Mill and Green in the nineteenth century, positive liberalism has its advocates in Hobhouse, Tawney, Laski and MacIver in the twentieth century. Some of the other equally significant contributors to positive liberal concept include J. M. Keynes, J. K. Galbraith, C. B. Macpherson, John Rawls, J. W. Chapman, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen.…

R. M. MacIver is a sociologist who looked at the State from the sociological point of view. He differentiates between society and the State as representing two different spheres of human activities. Society is given primacy both in terms of its priority and sphere of human interests that it contains—cultural, economic, emotional, political, religious, social, etc.…

Laski s views on the role of the State are very much influenced by his analysis of capitalist economy and its adverse effects on the poor and working class. He points out that, ‘…a dominant economic class uses the State to make ultimate those legal imperatives which best protect its interests.59 His rejection of the capitalist…

To explain his views on the individual’s position and liberty vis-á-vis the state, we may analyse his views on liberty and the role the State plays in the socio-economic field. Laski’s views on liberty and rights are somewhat linked. They seek to provide individuals the opportunities for securing their best selves. He defines rights as those conditions…

In the twentieth century, Professor Laski can be considered as an important positive liberal, though he shifted his ideas from positive liberalism, to Fabian socialism, to pluralism, to Marxism, to democratic socialism, during the course of his prolific intellectual and political career. At times, he argued for individual liberty and at other end he made…

R. H. Tawney carries this tradition further. Tawney, a positive liberal was also a Fabian socialist. The Acquisitive Society and Equality, he explains his ideas on property and equality respectively and what role the State should play. He rejected the argument of the negative liberals and laissez-faire theorists, which stressed that pursuit of acquisition of private property,…