Time of Monsters: What Future for Liberalism?; Quarterly Essay 103

Do we still believe in progress? In this wonderfully clarifying essay, Waleed Aly examines what happened to liberalism. As a set of ideas, it offered equality and guaranteed freedoms. But more and more, we live in a post-liberal world.

Aly maps the new politics arising - both conservative and progressive - as mainstream politics loses its appeal. He examines the battles over identity, injustice and speech, and discusses the way instability has become central to contemporary life. When did freedom start to feel so unfree?

This is a supple and original essay about the forces transforming our politics.