Liberalism has long been the dominant ideology of the modern West. In recent years, however, post-liberalism has emerged as a central movement within the 'New Right' and a formidable intellectual challenge to the mainstream. Even American Vice-President J.D. Vance has described himself as part of the 'post-liberal right'.
Matt Sleat presents the first comprehensive and critical analysis of post-liberalism. Engaging with the work of key theorists such as Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, he explores the theological influences on the movement, as well as its affinities and tensions with related New Right projects like National Conservatism. Sleat argues that post-liberalism's politics of the common good rests on a mistaken diagnosis of our soical malaise. Its project, in turn, is not only incoherent and dangerous but likely achievable only through authoritarian and deeply coercive means. He also considers how liberals might respond to post-liberalism, and what its rise reveals about the future of conservative politics.
Post-Liberalism is an essential work for students and scholars of political science and philosophy, as well as anyone concerned with the forces reshaping western politics today.
Industry Reviews
"Matt Sleat's Post-Liberalism is desperately needed. It provides a dispassionate but engaged account of whether those seeking to overturn two and a half centuries of liberalism have coherent and compelling arguments, and whether their notion of a 'common good' would be good for the people. It should be widely read."
Paul Tucker, author of Global Discord and research fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
"Post-Liberalism is a rigorous and accessible inquiry into the post-liberal mindset. Sleat brilliantly shows that some post-liberals have no real quarrel with important strands of liberalism while others ignore these strands altogether in their zeal to destroy their main enemy."
David Dyzenhaus, University of Toronto
"Sleat is too deep and careful a thinker to rest with an easy win... What makes his book distinctive is its willingness to acknowledge the valid longing for community and higher ideals that motivates postliberalism — and to chastise liberals for failing to live up to these ideals."
Jacobin