The Once and Future Liberal Lib/E: After Identity Politics

From one of the most internationally admired political thinkers, a controversial polemic on the failures of identity politics and what comes next for the left -- in America and beyond. Following the shocking results of the US election of 2016, public intellectuals across the globe offered theories and explanations, but few were met with such vitriol, panic, and debate as Mark Lilla's. The Once and Future Liberal is a passionate plea to liberals to turn from the divisive politics of identity and develop a vision of the future that can persuade all citizens that they share a common destiny. Driven by a sincere desire to protect society's most vulnerable, the left has unwittingly balkanized the electorate, encouraged self-absorption rather than solidarity, and invested its energies in social movements rather than party politics. Identity-focused individualism has insidiously conspired with amoral economic individualism to shape an electorate with little sense of a shared future and near-contempt for the idea of the common good. Now is the time to re-build a sense of common feeling and purpose, and a sense of duty to one another. A fiercely argued, important book, enlivened by acerbic wit and erudition, The Once and Future Liberal is essential listening for our times.

About the Author :
Mark Lilla is Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and a prizewinning essayist for the New York Review of Books and other publications worldwide. His books include The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction; The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West; and The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Charles Constant is an actor whose professional storytelling career began at the age of thirteen, when he became an Actors' Equity Association apprentice. An accomplished audiobook narrator, he has recorded many popular titles, including How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban.

Review :
"After the disaster of November 2016, a wreckage analysis is desperately needed. Mark Lilla offers a deep and provocative brief on what went wrong, and what liberals, moderates, and progressives might do about it." -- "Steven Pinker, New York Times bestselling author" "Brief but brilliant book." -- "Fareed Zakaria" "In the age of Trump, Mark Lilla's engaging and provocative book is a must-read. The Once and Future Liberal is full of insights on the failure of the identity politics movement, and on what progressives have to do to capture America's imagination and secure the common good." -- "William Julius Wilson, author of More Than Just Race" "Mark Lilla will make many people mad, but to excellent purpose. He calls for a revived politics of liberty and justice for truly all and a real debate over how to achieve the common good. The job now is to find and include a genuinely diverse set of voices to create the new American 'we the people' that Lilla envisions." -- "Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business" "Though it's a book written by a liberal Democrat for liberal Democrats, every conservative who cares about the future of American politics should read it...The Once and Future Liberal is a punchy, no-BS guide to how the Democrats can make the future their own...[A] must-read." -- "American Conservative"