Overview

An interdisciplinary study of British liberalism in the nineteenth century Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture assesses the unexplored links between Victorian material culture and political theory. It seeks to transform understanding of Victorian liberalism's key conceptual metaphor - that the mind of an individuated subject is private space. Focusing on the environments inhabited by four Victorian writers and intellectuals, it delineates how John Stuart Mill's, Matthew Arnold's, John Morley's, and Robert Browning's commitments to liberalism were shaped by or manifested through the physical spaces in which they worked. The book also asserts the centrality of the embodied experience of actual people to Victorian political thought. Readers will gain new historical and literary understanding and will be introduced to an innovative methodology that links material culture and political theory. Key features Addresses interaction between British liberal thinkers and their workplaces as an essential component in your consideration of nineteenth-century liberalismEnhances understanding of Victorian literature and culture and the history of architecture and design through an interdisciplinary approachBridges differences of perspective between students of material culture and political theoryBased on extensive research in British and American archives, utilizing recently unsealed record

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9781474431644

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"This study has much to recommend it. It brings together architecture, material culture, liberalism, and politics in inventive ways. The prose is clear and lively, and Morrison's figures come across as quirky and touching, endearing combinations of verve and vision. This book models the sort of scholarly debate that one associates with the best examples of liberal thought. [...] a book that is at once academically rewarding and as delightful as an evening shared with friends.--Barbara Leckie, Carleton University ""Victorian Studies"" Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture is a masterful rapprochement between methodologies that hardly ever converge. Morrison gives us liberal political philosophy from the inside out, using archival research to peer into the domestic interiors and built environments that framed the influential thought of J.S. Mill, Matthew Arnold, John Morley, and Robert Browning. A crucial study for political theorists and material culture scholars alike.-- ""Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Rutgers University"""

Author Information

Kevin A. Morrison is Provincial Chair Professor, University Distinguished Professor, and Professor of British Literature in the School of Foreign Languages at Henan University. He is the author of the Modern Language Association award-winning Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture (2018), as well as A Micro-History of Victorian Liberal Parenting (2018) and Study-Abroad Pedagogy, Dark Tourism, and Historical Reenactment (2019).

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