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Matt McManus is a lecturer in political science at the University of Michigan. He is the author of, among other books, The Political Right and Equality, A How To Guide to Cosmopolitan Socialism, and the forthcoming The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism.
Conservatives today often denigrate a concern with economic inequality as a deviant left-wing preoccupation. In fact, from antiquity to the present, canonical thinkers of diverse political orientations have diagnosed economic inequality as a great evil.
Alasdair MacIntyre’s original critique of liberal modernity has won followers on the Left and the Right. His account of how capitalism has undermined the conditions of human flourishing deserves the serious attention of socialists.
The historical shortcomings of liberalism don’t mean that socialists should throw liberalism out wholesale. On the contrary: socialism needs liberalism.
A new book argues that liberalism offers not just a set of institutional norms but a compelling way of thinking about human flourishing. To offer a complete account of the good life, liberalism needs to confront the structural injustices of capitalism.
In his new book, Slavoj Žižek advances a provocative understanding of Christianity as a progressive, secularizing force. It’s classic Žižek — by turns brilliant and infuriating.
In Free and Equal, economist and philosopher Daniel Chandler argues that the ideas of John Rawls offer solutions to the crisis of liberal democracy. Jacobin spoke with Chandler to discuss how socialists should engage with Rawlsian politics.
Thomas Sowell has been a titan of conservative politics for decades. Underneath the erudition and prolific output is a cynical thinker who puts an intellectual gloss on social domination.
Over a century ago, Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought sparked a heated debate among Danish intellectuals about society’s moral foundations. The dispute prefigured today’s debates between the Left and the far right, which continues to be inspired by Nietzsche.
The diverse mosaic of European socialism engaged both reformists and revolutionaries, often driven by not just intellect but also profound religious conviction. Together, these elements shaped the democratic socialist tradition.
The late Michael Brooks championed a vision of international solidarity, grounded in our shared humanity. In doing so, he was reviving a tradition of cosmopolitanism that has long animated socialist and working-class movements at their best.
Socialist intellectual Georg Lukács was an astute critic of right-wing philosophy and its connections to fascism. For Lukács, philosophers of the Right were united by a reactionary disavowal of reason and justice.
The political right is a diverse intellectual tradition and world-making project. But there’s one thing that unites every variant of right-wing ideology: the belief that society will improve if we give up on the dream of a world where people are equal.
Despite his towering academic reputation, John Rawls’s ideas have had little impact outside the university. That’s a shame: as the failures of neoliberalism have become increasingly stark, Rawls’s egalitarian theory of justice has much to recommend it.
Sohrab Ahmari’s critique of capitalist power is surprising and compelling. But as long as he remains committed to unjust hierarchies of power in gender and sexuality, he can’t be a coalition partner with the Left.
Under capitalism, the formal equality guaranteed under the law is a farce. Democratic socialism can guarantee liberal rights like free speech while shattering the resource imbalances of capitalism.
Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh has made a name for himself with his relentless, religious-inflected trans-bashing. He’s a bad thinker and a bad Christian.
In his new book, Ron DeSantis presents himself as a blue-collar kid who hates elites. But the truth is, DeSantis doesn’t oppose elite rule — this Ivy Leaguer simply wants a different set of elites like himself to rule over the rest of us.
A new history of libertarianism challenges the conventional understanding of the tradition by spotlighting its radical currents. Unfortunately, there’s barely a remnant of that history today — most libertarians threw in their lot with the Right long ago.
Buried for many decades by the dominance of liberal thought, the republican tradition of freedom as nondomination has been excavated in recent years. Democratic socialists should embrace it.
The capitalist work ethic insists that we keep our heads down and work endlessly, even if our job is degrading. Democratic socialists want to free workers from drudgery so we can develop our full human potential and simply enjoy the one life we have.