CONTENDING LIBERALISMS - PAST AND PRESENT

The claim that the ending of the Cold War signifies the triumph of Wes tern liberalism - irrespective of whether this is celebrated or deplor ed - overlooks the extent to which the liberal tradition, as commonly understood, incorporated radical differences within it. These often sh aped the major political cleavages of the time - between Whigs and rad icals, Girondins and Jacobins, the liberalism of privilege versus the liberalism of egalitarian democracy. Similar tensions can be identifie d today - between the liberalisms of 'globalization from above' and 'g lobalization from below', the liberalism of international business and finance and that of radical social movements, the liberalism of privi lege and that of human rights in the full sense. Not all these espouse the same liberal principles, but they can be seen as contending over which of the rival liberalisms should be accorded legitimacy in the po st-Cold War world.