"The Communitarian Persuasion is a brief, thoughtful, readable argument for communitarian political philosophy by one of the principal thinkers of the movement.". "The communitarian movement aims to balance the individual liberties prized by modernity with the health of the community in which those liberties are exercised. The movement arose in 1980s America - a society asserting, on the left, personal self-realization, and, on the right, unrestrained capitalism and distrust of government, both sides assailing social institutions." "Philip Selznick's new book shows how the communitarian response to such pressures is not opposition but integration."--BOOK JACKET.