RE-MODELLING THE GUILD-SYSTEM: CORPORATISM IN HEGEL’S PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT
RE-MODELLING THE GUILD-SYSTEM: CORPORATISM IN HEGEL’S PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT

Summary/Abstract: The paper revisits Hegel’s social and political system as it is presented in his Philosophy of Right from the perspective of an essential institution devised by Hegel, the corporation. It argues that the corporation, though apparently a Hegelian reappropriation of the medieval institution of the guild, serves as a cornerstone for a very modern conception of the political state and of society: corporatism is the solution Hegel devises for guarding against the increased atomization of society that came about with the advent of the modern, highly institutionalized state, a social development which would ultimately endanger the very existence of that same state. The paper looks into the version of corporatism proposed by Hegel and argues that the Hegelian model of smaller scale human associations could prove a valuable addition to liberal models of the state.

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