Network Democracy uses the contemporary tools of ecology and network thinking to unearth the ancient, intellectual ruins of traditional conservative thought. Questioning the West’s veneration of freedom, equality, contractual citi- zenship, economic progress, cosmopolitanism, secular institutionalism, and reason, Jared Giesbrecht illuminates how these ideals fuel violence and insecu- rity in our high-speed lives. While the modern age witnesses the rise of a vio- lent conservatism in the form of revolutionary movements enacting terror and vengeance for the interventions of the liberal West, this study reveals a differ- ent kind of conservatism – one that has emerged in direct conversation with liberal thought. Giesbrecht highlights the need for intermediate institutions and civil enterprises that form relations and traditions independent of the state in order to develop resistance to the insecurity of the liberal age. This book of- fers not only a poignant critique, but a constructive and peaceable alternative to the violence of both liberalism and reactionary anti-liberalism. Attuned to the new realities of globalization, advanced technology, and social acceleration, Network Democracy is a masterful hybrid of ancient and cutting-edge political philosophy that casts a new light on the values underlying Western civilization. Jared Giesbrecht practises law in Fort Saint John, British Columbia. Honorific rewards are all about status and illustrate status processes in a way that few other social phenomena do. Why do we have so many honorific awards and prizes? Although they are a major feature of modern societies, they have received little scholarly attention. Samuel Clark argues that answering this question requires a separate his- torical analysis of different awards and prizes. He presents a comprehensive explanation of the origins and evolution of state honours in the British Isles, France, and the Low Countries. Examining cultural, social, and political changes that led to the massive growth in state honours and shaped their char- acteristics, Distributing Status also demonstrates their functions as instru- ments of cultural power, collective power, disciplinary power, and status power. Clark supports his conclusions with a cross-cultural statistical analysis of twenty societies. Lucid and logical, Distributing Status explicates an important historical change in Western Europe while at the same time contributing to several bodies of sociological literature, including evolutionary theory, theories of collective action, writings on discipline in modern societies, and studies of status processes. Samuel Clark is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Western Ontario and author of State and Status: The Rise of the State and Aristocratic Power in Western Europe. 3 7 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 S P E C I F I C AT I O N S McGill-Queen’s Studies in the History of Ideas January 2018 978-0-7735-5074-2 $37.95A CDN, $34.95A US, £28.99 paper 6 x 9 296pp eBook available S P E C I F I C AT I O N S June 2018 978-0-7735-4601-1 $34.95A CDN, $34.95A US, £28.99 paper 6 x 9 536pp 51 tables, 7 diagrams, colour section eBook available n e w i n p a p e r Network Democracy Conservative Politics and the Violence of the Liberal Age jared giesbrecht "An innovative critique of modern liberalism that should interest scholars of both liberal and conser- vative political thought. Highly Recommended.” CHOICE S O C I O L O G Y • E U R O P E A N H I S T O R Y P H I L O S O P H Y • P O L I T I C A L S T U D I E S n e w i n p a p e r Distributing Status The Evolution of State Honours in Western Europe samuel clark “In this broad-ranging and innovative study, enriched by methodologies drawn from the social sciences, Samuel Clark shows how honorific awards have evolved across the centuries.” Alan Forrest, University of York