The concept of emancipation is a touchstone issue within classical liberalism. Commonly referred to as a condition in which individuals and groups are liberated from forms of control, domination, or restriction, “emancipation” normatively corresponds with the humane ethical dimension underpinning liberalism as well as the liberal political project of progressively extending the principle of equality of dignity and respect to all persons. “Liberal emancipation” stresses how economic, political, and social freedoms are deeply implicated in promoting upward mobility and individual choice, and countering subjugation and repression, for all human beings, including historically oppressed and marginalized groups.

This contributed volume explores the historical achievements of liberal emancipation as well as its contemporary relevance to pressing economic, political, and social issues.

Mikayla Novak is Senior Fellow, F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She is the author of Inequality (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). In 2013, Novak earned her PhD in economics from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.