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Why Are So Many Western Intellectuals Abandoning Liberalism and What Can We Do About It?
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 142 (2022), Iss. 1 : pp. 1–20
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Prof. Aurelian Craiutu, Department of Political Science, Indiana University 210 Woodburn Hall 47405 Bloomington IN, United States
Cited By
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Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism
The Classical Liberal Ideas, Predicaments, and Potentials
Karlson, Nils
2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49074-3_6 [Citations: 0]
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Abstract
This article analyzes some of the reasons why so many Western intellectuals have seemed ready to abandon the principles of liberalism lately in search for alternative solutions. I begin by examining the fascination exercised by Viktor Orbán among conservatives in the US who emerged as staunch critics of liberalism. Next, I show that the doom industry has a long history and discuss the conceptual fluidity of liberalism and its implications for students of liberalism. I argue that by acknowledging the polysemantic nature of liberalism we can better answer its critics. I draw on the lessons of German Ordoliberals to show that liberalism contains surprising resources neglected by its critics. The article concludes with a call to moderate liberalism inspired by Karl Popper’s defense of the open society.