FREE AND EQUAL

** A Waterstones, Financial Times and New Statesman Book of the Year **

Also available in: Italian, Spanish, Portugese

Forthcoming in: Korean, Japanese and Hungarian.

Praise for Free and Equal

“A stirring call to make justice and equity a reality by applying the ideas of liberal philosopher John Rawls.”
—The Guardian

"A vigorous case for adopting the liberal political framework laid out by John Rawls. . . . Chandler is a lucid and elegant writer, and there’s an earnest sense of excitement propelling his argument — a belief that Rawls’s framework for thinking through political issues offers a humane way out of the most intractable disputes.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“Welcomely ambitious. . . . Richly erudite and thoughtful. . . . A sanely conventional vision of a state reformed in the direction of ever greater fairness and equity, one able to curb the excesses of capitalism and to accommodate the demands of diversity.”

—The New Yorker

“Daniel Chandler offers a powerfully argued case for renovating democracy’s tattered social contract.”
—Financial Times

“A robust and inspiring case for the philosophy of John Rawls, dragging his theory of justice down from Harvard’s ivory towers and into the street with the people. In clear and impassioned style [Chandler] returns Rawls to the center of the conversation, where he belongs, re-establishing his work as a potential agent of radical—and practicable—change . . . Intellectually rigorous and full of hope.”
—Zadie Smith

“This is a fantastic book. More than ever, we need philosophers to participate in the public debate about inequality and sustainability. In Free and Equal Daniel Chandler provides us with the moral basis for an ambitious egalitarian agenda, and a roadmap for putting this into practice. It is a must-read!”
—Thomas Piketty

“Chandler has an excellent background on the philosophical issues that are central to practical policy making, and given the lucidity and reach of what he writes, this book will meet a very important need.”
—Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

"A tremendous book, timely, wise, authoritative and clear. The world will fall on it like tired labourers falling on a tray of donuts"
—Stephen Fry

“A beautifully written and compelling argument that Rawlsian political philosophy can heal our broken societies and make us, indeed, free and equal.”
—Sir Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

“Daniel Chandler’s provocative book helps make human possibilities more credible than they have been in our neoliberal age.”
—Samuel Moyn, author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World

"A brilliantly eloquent, incredibly insightful reimagining of liberalism, and by such a compelling writer"
—Owen Jones

“A beautifully clear, inspiring, wise book with the potential not only to reinvent liberalism, but to transform our societies for the better.”
—Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus and Lost Connections

“A refreshing and useful contribution to envisioning a better world. . . . A model for what politically engaged philosophy should look like.”
—Jacobin

“Read Free and Equal and feel hopeful about the future.”
—Minouche Shafik, President of Columbia University

“An exceptionally sane, judicious essay on what a viable democracy entails. . . . Realistic, humane – and in its way, revolutionary.”
—Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

“Attractively written and strongly argued. . . . This is a welcome reminder of what progressive politics should be.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“A shining example of how a lucid writer can develop practical proposals to improve society.”
—Irish Times

“Clear, brave, compelling. This book shows how to put values at the heart of politics in a rigorous way, and is an important contribution to the future of progressive politics.”
—David Miliband

“An exemplary demonstration of how public reasoning can be done. . . . A welcome respite from the knee-jerk moralism that dominates the op-ed pages and social media.”
—New Statesman

“A crisp exposition of Rawls's principles ... skipping freely between gritty evidence and high theory, and grappling impressively and impatiently with practical obstacles to change ... Chandler is reminiscent of his one-time teacher, Amartya Sen.”
—Prospect

“A book full of ideals and ideas, optimism grounded in action. It is as energising as it is timely.”
—Andy Haldane, former Chief Economist of the Bank of England

“A morally steadfast book, which liberalism’s honest opponents should take for their target, and which will enliven liberal theory and perhaps even reinvigorate liberal political practice.”
—Daniel Markovits, author of The Meritocracy Trap