Fairness and Freedom

Fairness and Freedom compares the historical development of New Zealand and the United States, two English-speaking settler societies with representative government, market economies, plural cultures and strong claims about individual rights. Fischer follows their institutions from colonisation through democratic reform, war, economic change and modern social policy.

The central contrast is between an American political language organised strongly around freedom and a New Zealand tradition that gives greater weight to fairness. The book tests that difference across race relations, gender, labour, welfare, foreign policy and public culture, showing how related societies can build distinct moral expectations from common inheritances.