Ian Dunt

Gebundenes Buch

How To Be A Liberal

The Story of Liberalism and the Fight for its Life

Beschreibung

'A tour de force.' - THE SECRET BARRISTER 'Clear-eyed and hard-headed. His defence of liberalism is political writing at its most urgent and engaging.' - NICK COHEN, OBSERVER COLUMNIST 'Dunt's gift for making complicated issues comprehensible is second to none. Courageous.' - JAMES O'BRIEN, LBC Nationalism has marched across the world. Wherever it goes, it seeks to destroy the liberal values that underpin Western civilisation. In this epic new book, political journalist Ian Dunt tells the forgotten story of the advance of liberalism and the events which led to its current retreat. His sweeping narrative takes in the Levellers, the American and French Revolutions, John Stuart Mill, the great economic clashes between John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek, and the works of George Orwell. He then traces how the financial crash, identity politics and post-truth have wreaked havoc on liberal values in some of the world's biggest countries. Weaving together history, philosophy and polemic, How To Be A Liberal stretches from the dawn of the age of science to the latest developments in politics and everyday life. This wide-ranging and powerful account will answer all the questions you have about what's happening to our society and how we create a better world.

Autor

About the AuthorIan Dunt is a columnist with the I newspaper and presents the Origin Story and Oh God, What Now? podcasts. His first book, Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now? (Canbury Press, 2017) on Britain's departure from the European Union was a bestseller. In How Westminster Works (And Why It Doesn't) he looked at the UK politics.In How To Be A Liberal (Canbury, 2020) he tells the story of our personal freedom. Drawing on history, politics and economics, he argues for a radical, egalitarian liberalism that nurtures both individuals and us all.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Canbury Press
• Seitenzahl: 498
• Erscheinungstermin: 17. September 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 161mm x 31mm
• Gewicht: 792g
• ISBN-13: 9781912454419
• ISBN-10: 1912454416
• Artikelnr.: 58665911

Rezensionen

'A tour de force; a mighty trumpet blast for the forces of liberalism and enlightenment in the face of a global tide of ignorance and populism.'

- THE SECRET BARRISTER

How to be a Liberal is a non-exhaustive (by Dunt's own admission) but thorough exploration of liberalism's journey from early thinkers such as Rene Descartes and Benjamin Constant all the way through to 21st century liberalism and the urgent crisis it now faces in its battle with nationalism and populism. The beauty of this book not only stems from the intrinsic beauty of the ideals of liberalism, but from Dunt's presentation of the logical progression of the history of ideas in a way that makes this book accessible to anyone who wishes to apply liberal principles to the rather mad world in which we currently live... As one moves through the book, Dunt's political philosophy becomes increasingly clear. His ability to write on issues of the

day was clear before this book, but when this is combined with the intellectual force of the previous chapters, the final chapters become a devastating polemic of the current success of nationalism across Europe and America. Targets of this polemic include Viktor Orban, Boris Johnson and the pushers of identity politics. His criticism of both nationalists and those who play the game of identity politics is fundamentally the same – they reject the importance of the individual and instead rely on homogenous and rigid assumptions about the nature of particular groups (in spite of the good intentions of those on the left). These assumptions fail to consider the complexity of human relationships and thus, according to Dunt, ultimately fail. There is also pointed, and perhaps surprising given Dunt's political history, criticism of the EU. One gets the sense that this criticism stems from Dunt's disappointment at the EU in failing to stand up to nationalism (Libyan refugee crisis and Hungary) and the institutionally liberal principles upon which it was created (Eurozone Crisis). This book is an urgent restatement of principles that have been missing from political discourse in the UK, Europe and the USA over the last few decades. At the heart of these principles is the importance of individual liberty and how all rights flow from this. Although the picture may not currently be overly bright, Dunt strikes a fundamentally optimistic tone about the strength of institutional politics (particularly in the UK) and the ability to push back against the dark wave of nationalism currently flooding through Europe. Essential reading.