In order to gain a deeper understanding of shame and shamelessness as ethico-political phenomena in the contemporary world, this book stages a cross-cultural dialogue that questions and unsettles established views.

Expounding and evaluating a range of perspectives on shame, from the ancient Greeks and classical Confucians to modern liberalism, the chapters in this collection reflect on how we should understand the movement of shame from private morality into the collective sphere, and ask what role shame can or should play, as emotional support or ethical corrective, to the normative frameworks of social and political civility.

Covering the prominent discourses of Western modernity, as well as non-Western, and oppositional traditions, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars in moral and political philosophy, contemporary democratic theory, and comparative philosophy.