The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics

by Mark Lilla

Overview

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 reading for our times. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062697462
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	165
Sales rank:	989,046
File size:	862 KB

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.

Editorial Reviews

08/28/2017
This slim polemic excoriates the identity politics of contemporary liberalism and blames it for Donald Trump’s victory. In a reasoned analysis of 20th-century American politics, Lilla (The Shipwrecked Mind), a Columbia professor, observes that modern American politics is shaped by the visions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. In the first, “citizens were involved in a collective enterprise” to guard against risk and the denial of fundamental rights. In the second, they were promised a “more individualistic America” that would prosper when liberated from government constraints. He argues that liberals’ collective response to the Reagan Dispensation was to lose “themselves in the thickets of identity politics” and essentially abandon fighting the Republican ascendancy at the electoral level. Because he works in broad strokes and makes no secret of his perspective as a “frustrated American liberal,” Lilla can get shrill, and he spends too much time on campus politics. Though he sometimes overreaches, he also convincingly argues that a lack of political vision and shared purpose are major reasons why America is now led by an “opportunistic, unprincipled populist.” The best liberal response, he argues, is to cultivate “a solidarity that transcends identity attachments.” Lilla’s analysis is insightful, but more likely to fire up debate in college classrooms than to mobilize the masses. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

A terrific short book about the decline of American liberalism explaining how they went from the successes of FDR’s coalition to the pitfalls of today’s identity politics. It’s an accessible book that’s essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we arrived in the Trump era and where the Democrats go from here.” — Fareed Zakaria, CNN

“Lilla in his new book issues an important, passionate and highly critical wake-up call to liberals who, he believes, are stuck in the mud…. Lilla’s message to liberals is timely and welcome.” — Arlie Hochschild, Washington Post

“Lilla masterfully sets a dialogue in this short book.” — Los Angeles Review of Books

“The Once and Future Liberal is a dead-on diagnosis of what ails the Democrats.” — Guardian

“[Lilla’s] argument is an important counter-weight to the prevailing wisdom.” — Financial Times

“Insightful.” — Publishers Weekly

“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-b.s. guide to how the Democrats can make the future their own… [A] must-read.” — Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

“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

“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

“In The Once and Future Liberal, Mark Lilla speaks as a liberal to liberals about liberalism—and finds it wanting. Lilla seeks to summon liberals to a politics of broad national interest …and challenges it with an unforgivably sharp style and keen intellect.” — David Frum, The Atlantic

“If I could magically place a copy of Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics into the hands of every Democratic Party politician, activist, major donor, pollster, and consultant in the country, I would…Lilla has written the most admirable and necessary political broadside in years.”  — Damon Linker, The Week

“Lilla is no conservative. Yet it would be hard to find a better skewering of modern American liberalism than in this slim volume…Lilla’s book is a sizzling polemic.” — Edward Luce, Financial Times)

“Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics has annoyed a great many people in the US, though its message is nothing but common sense: in the age of Trumpery, nothing can be done for vulnerable minorities unless liberals get themselves elected to positions of influence. An urgent and important book by one of the clearest and most inspired political thinkers of the day. ” — John Banville, The Guardian; “Best Book of the Year”

“Mark Lilla questions liberalism’s intellectual foundations in order to make it forceful and successful… An important book.” — Laurent Joffrin, Libération (Paris)

“Besides analyzing how American liberals have lost both their appeal and their political power, The Once and Future Liberal proposes a way to make liberalism relevant again.” — Gadi Taub, Ha’aretz

“The Once and Future Liberal is the angry cry of someone on the left who no longer recognizes his comrades…  Polemical but passionate, it is at the center of the identity debates that still divide the United States.” — Le Point (Paris)

From the Publisher

In The Once and Future Liberal, Mark Lilla speaks as a liberal to liberals about liberalism—and finds it wanting. Lilla seeks to summon liberals to a politics of broad national interest …and challenges it with an unforgivably sharp style and keen intellect.

David Frum

Lilla masterfully sets a dialogue in this short book.

Los Angeles Review of Books

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-b.s. guide to how the Democrats can make the future their own… [A] must-read.

Rod Dreher

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

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

A terrific short book about the decline of American liberalism explaining how they went from the successes of FDR’s coalition to the pitfalls of today’s identity politics. It’s an accessible book that’s essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we arrived in the Trump era and where the Democrats go from here.

Fareed Zakaria

Lilla in his new book issues an important, passionate and highly critical wake-up call to liberals who, he believes, are stuck in the mud…. Lilla’s message to liberals is timely and welcome.

Arlie Hochschild

The Once and Future Liberal is a dead-on diagnosis of what ails the Democrats.

Guardian

[Lilla’s] argument is an important counter-weight to the prevailing wisdom.

Financial Times

Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics has annoyed a great many people in the US, though its message is nothing but common sense: in the age of Trumpery, nothing can be done for vulnerable minorities unless liberals get themselves elected to positions of influence. An urgent and important book by one of the clearest and most inspired political thinkers of the day.

John Banville

Mark Lilla questions liberalism’s intellectual foundations in order to make it forceful and successful… An important book.

Laurent Joffrin

Besides analyzing how American liberals have lost both their appeal and their political power, The Once and Future Liberal proposes a way to make liberalism relevant again.

Gadi Taub

The Once and Future Liberal is the angry cry of someone on the left who no longer recognizes his comrades…  Polemical but passionate, it is at the center of the identity debates that still divide the United States.

Le Point (Paris)

Lilla is no conservative. Yet it would be hard to find a better skewering of modern American liberalism than in this slim volume…Lilla’s book is a sizzling polemic.

Edward Luce

If I could magically place a copy of Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics into the hands of every Democratic Party politician, activist, major donor, pollster, and consultant in the country, I would…Lilla has written the most admirable and necessary political broadside in years.” 

Damon Linker

[Lilla’s] argument is an important counter-weight to the prevailing wisdom.

Financial Times

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

The Once and Future Liberal is a dead-on diagnosis of what ails the Democrats.

The Guardian