The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Edward Luce, Atlantic Monthly Press, 226 pages
The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics, David Goodhart, Hurst, 256 pages
In the span of less than one year, Great Britain begat Brexit, America’s Electoral College delivered President Trump, and France’s Marine Le Pen crashed her way into a runoff election. But it does not end there. Since his inauguration the president has further raised the temperature in our ongoing semi-civil Civil War. Voters once derided as deplorables, that is those who came up short in the march toward globalization, have reminded Washington and Westminster that they will not be ignored. Brexit and Trumpism are harsh verdicts cast on a supposed “end of history,” a denouement in time that left too many behind. The world is no longer flat, and blood and soil are highly relevant.
Edward Luce’s Retreat of Western Liberalism and David Goodhart’s Road to Somewhere are timely and thoughtful examinations of how we reached this intersection. Importantly, Luce and Goodhart understand that citizenship, social cohesion, and reciprocal obligation matter. Both conclude that neo-liberalism’s self-celebration has slammed headlong into a wall, and that the Great Recession and its epilogue have irrevocably altered the established order.
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