Present manifestations of the liberal tradition have evolved considerably from the conceptions of classical liberals such as John Stuart Mill and John Locke. While many may view the evolution of liberal thought as a refinement of a fundamentally good foundation, contemporary challenges contend that the foundations themselves warrant reconsideration and that the time for adopting an alternative model to the liberal order is quickly approaching. How lost are the classical liberal practices and thinking, and do we need to recover them? Is there merit to the arguments of critics of liberalism, and is it time to move beyond liberalism into something different? Something new?

This speaker series, organized by the Illiberalism Studies Program and the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom at the George Washington University, proposes to provide a space for intellectually stimulating discussions surrounding liberal and non-liberal ideologies. We want to promote substantive discussion of political and economic visions for the future. By facilitating open dialogues, this series seeks to transcend ideological boundaries and foster a deeper comprehension of each other's viewpoints.

Speakers:

Adrian Pabst is a lecturer in politics in the University of Kent at Canterbury. Since 1998, he also been a research fellow at the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies. He is a frequent visitor to Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia. Currently he is writing The Spectacle of Paradox, a book on market-states, crisis capitalism and the coming ideologies. He is a regular contributor to the international press on geopolitics, political economy, Europe and religion

Yascha Mounk is a writer and academic known for his work on the crisis of democracy and the defense of philosophically liberal values. He is a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, where he holds appointments in both the School of Advanced International Studies and the SNF Agora Institute. Yascha is also a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Moynihan Public Fellow at City College. He is the Founder of Persuasion, the host of The Good Fight podcast, and serves as a publisher (Herausgeber) at Die Zeit.

Moderators:

Laura K. Field is a writer in Washington, DC. She studied political theory and public law at the University of Texas at Austin, has held faculty positions at Rhodes College, Georgetown University, and American University, and today is a Scholar in Residence at American University and Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center. Laura has a longstanding interest in political culture and how thinking (and writing, and rhetoric) shapes our lives, which pairs well with current questions about the crisis of liberalism and rising authoritarianism around the world. She has worked extensively on the right-wing (“New Right”) intellectuals who rose to prominence under the Trump administration and is currently writing a book on the subject for Princeton University Press. 

Samuel Goldman is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. His first book God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018. His second book, After Nationalism, was published from the University of Pennsylvania Press in early 2021. In addition to his academic research, Goldman’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.