The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics

Citizenship. Many readers will bristle at Mark Lilla’s book titled, The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics. That’s a good reason to read it, whether one agrees or disagrees with the author. Lilla proposes that the liberal attention to identity politics in recent years has been a harmful diversion. Over the past four decades the vision of American individualism championed by Reagan and others has become dominant. The problem he sees with that vision is that individualism leads to a lack of interest in discerning the common good and no way of drawing our country’s citizens together. Lilla calls for liberals to focus on citizenship, not identity. Whether you’re a liberal or a conservative, reading about this proposed reset will be of interest if you are a citizen interested in making our republic stronger. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Once and Future Liberal from amazon.com.