Liberalism and Its Critics: A Review and Critique of the Current Debate

• In Event: Alternatives to the Liberal Paradigm

Abstract

Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to state that liberalism (liberal-democracy; the classical liberal status-quo) is currently undergoing a period of deep, perhaps even fatal crisis. Evidence for this is the worldwide rise and impact of anti-liberal ideas, forces and movements: from the political success of self-styled “illiberal” regimes such as Viktor Orbán’s in Hungary; to the aggressive affirmation of anti-liberal models in international politics, by the regimes of Russia, Türkiye or China; to the violent contestation of the very foundations of the American polity by populist and ideological movements that range from the far left (see the Antifa and BLM riots) to some of Donald Trump’s supporters on the far right (see the events of January 6). All these seem to be symptoms of a deep and generalized disaffection with liberal democracy, and manifestations of an active search for post-liberal alternatives that could ground a (better) politics of the future. Given that the USA is built, both as a state and as a nation, on a set of “classical liberal” philosophical assumptions; and that the entire post-WWII Western Europe, its peace and prosperity, as well as the relative order and stability of international relations during the same period, were all built on similar liberal assumptions, the current “crisis of liberalism” might just represent one of the most important turning points (critical junctures) in modern history.
This is why it would be high time to synthesize and evaluate some of the main arguments and positions within this debate on the crisis of liberalism, starting with the book that (arguably) first asked some of the fundamental questions, namely Phillip Blond’s Red Tory (2010); and then going through other works that contributed to revealing the depth of the crisis, analyzing its origins and symptoms, and sometimes proposing possible post-liberal alternatives. Our investigation will thus range from books specifically written on the topic (such as Patrick Deneen’s works on the subject), to works describing how this crisis of liberalism is playing out in real life (such as Peter Pomerantsev’s chronicle of post-2000 Russia), to talks, writings and policies produced by illiberal political leaders (such as Viktor Orbán or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan). Given that this is not a purely theoretical debate, but a real-life conflict taking place within both domestic and international politics, only such a comparative, mixed-source approach could do justice to the complexity of the subject .
Our overall goal is to delineate the contours and general terms of the debate, synthesizing the various materials into a symptomatology of the “illness” affecting the liberal status quo, while also looking at the origins and development of said illness, trying to see if it is mendable or, as some authors would argue, fatal. We will also summarize the various paths forward proposed by some of these thinkers and/or political figures – i.e. the various depictions of what a post-liberal world might look like. After this literature review and after synthesizing the main terms of the debate, we will also present our own conclusions and suggestions on the matter.

Author

• Eugen L. Nagy, Texas A&M University, San Antonio