Der Band resultiert aus einer im Dezember 1995 in Florenz abgehaltenen Tagung des "European University Institute (Law Department)" und versammelt Beiträge europäischer und amerikanischer Philosophen, Ökonomen, Sozialwissenschaftler und Juristen über die Herausforderungen an liberale Institutionen und Konzeptionen ökonomischer Rechte durch den Aufstieg von Organisationen. Inhalt: I. Liberalism and Property: Eric Mack: Right-Wing Liberalism, Left-Wing Liberalism, and the Self-Ownership Proviso (9-29); David Schmidtz: The Institution of Property (31-51). II. Economic Rights between Public and Private: J. F. Spitz: Can Republican Political Theory Take Rights Seriously? (53-67); Adam B. Seligman: Civil Society and its Unconditionalities: Public or Private Selves? (69-82); I. Pies: Political Philosophy, Political Economy, and Political Liberalism (83-99). III. Economic Change and Knowledge Society: Charles F. Sabel: Design, Deliberation, and Democracy: On the New Pragmatism of Firms and Public Institutions (101-149); Helmut Willke: Ruling the Knowledge Society: State Competences and Organizational Domains in Building Knowledge-Based Systems (151-168); Karl-Heinz Ladeur: The Liberal Legal Order and the Rise of Economic Organizations - Towards a Legal Theory of Proceduralization (169-199). IV. Liberal Rights and the Emergence of Rules and Conventions: Pierre Garrouste: Institutions, Organizations and the Co-ordination of Rules of Conduct (201-212); Pierre Livet: Organizations, Rights and Undecidability Spaces (213-229); Jean de Munck: Cognitive and Organizational Changes in the Regulation of Telecommunications (231-258).