Against Post-Liberalism

Paul Kelly is Professor of Political Theory and former Pro-Director at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

• ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements1. The Post-Liberal Moment?2. National Populism and the Unmasking of Liberalism3. Common Good Communitarianism4. Authoritarianism, Political Theology and the Common Good5. Liberalism against Post-Liberalism6. Why 'Faith, Family and Flag' is a Dead EndNotes

"Against Post-Liberalism succeeds because Kelly separates claims that others conflate: persons are socially constituted; neoliberalism damages freedom's institutions; common goods matter."LSE Review of Books"sobering"The Irish Times"Far from representing a viable future for the left, Kelly expertly exposes the various ways in which the post-liberal turn to 'family, faith and flag' either collapses into authoritarianism or cannot address the most pressing problems facing western liberal democratic societies today. Against Postliberalism is vital reading for anyone interested in where the left goes from here."Matt Sleat, University of Sheffield"Paul Kelly challenges a current of thought that's gaining adherents and attention along with contemporary electoral success on the right. Calmly and fairly, Kelly anatomizes the new 'post-liberalism' and explains how it fails - and why an egalitarian and pluralist liberalism not only survives the assault but could even thrive in our anxious moment of transatlantic politics."Samuel Moyn, author of Liberalism Against Itself"A most timely book that needed to be written and demands to be read. In this thoughtful, nuanced critical engagemenet with emerging debates around post-liberalism, Paul Kelly has provided us with an accessible yet thorough study of soe of the ideas of upending modern politics. One of the most important political books of the year."Jon Cruddas, former Labour MP for Dagenham, author of The Dignity of Labour and A Century of Labour"Against Post-Liberalism sets itself the task of mapping distinct strands of postliberalism across the Atlantic and developing a robust response to their arguments."Jacobin"could hardly be more timely... Kelly cuts through the fog of battle with a mostly accurate, mostly un-tendentious survey of the political movement he opposes."First Things"A compelling defence of egalitarian liberalism"LSE Review of Books"[Kelly] wants to demonstrate that the postliberal program is a dead end, primarily for the left, but really for anyone who cares about egalitarian politics."First Things