John Ruskin's Politics and Natural Law

This book offers new perspectives on the origins and development of John Ruskin-s political thought. Graham A. MacDonald traces the influence of late medieval and pre-Enlightenment thought in Ruskin-s writing, reintroducing readers to Ruskin-s politics as shaped through his engagement with concepts of natural law, legal rights, labour and welfare organization. From Ruskin-s youthful studies of geology and chemistry to his back-to-the-land project, the Guild of St. George, he emerges as a complex political thinker, a reformer-and what we would recognize today as an environmentalist. John Ruskin-s Politics and Natural Law is a nuanced reappraisal of neglected areas of Ruskin-s thought.

Graham A. MacDonald has worked as a teacher, librarian, park planner, heritage consultant andhistorian. Between 1991 and 2001 he was National Park Historian for Parks Canada, Western Region. He is the author of numerous books and articles.

1. Introduction.- 2. The Wine Merchant's Son: Ruskin's Discovery of the World.- 3. Art, Morality and the Fate of Nations: 1848-1853.- 4. On the Moral Disorder of Victorian England: From Art to Political Economy: 1853-1863.- 5. Wealth, Justice and the Medieval Poor Law: 1864-1870.- 6. Towards Pluralism: Oxford and Natural Law: 1870-1877.- 7. Easing towards 'a Vast Policy': Establishing the Guild of St. George.- 8. The Condition of Political Virtue: Cooperative Individualism and Civil Association.