Conservatism is back The belief that conservatism amounts to little more than favouring free markets and a small state—widely held for decades—is seriously mistaken. Award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is to return to a genuine conservatism that is distinct from the hollow promises of contemporary economic and social liberalism. He explains how the great Anglo-American conservative tradition – rooted in empiricism, faith and the nation – emerged and developed in England in the thought of men like Richard Hooker, John Selden, and Edmund Burke, and later inspired American figures ranging from the Federalists to Lincoln. He analyses how this tradition was subverted from the 1960s onwards by the right’s misconceived embrace of ‘fusionism’ and liberalism, and how it can be revived today. Reflecting on his own first-hand experiences – and the importance of personal behaviour, piety and virtue in rebuilding the culture and politics of conservatism – Hazony makes a powerful counter-cultural case for a revivified conservatism that no-one dissatisfied with the current state of the political right can afford to miss.
Description:
Conservatism is backThe belief that conservatism amounts to little more than favouring free markets and a small state—widely held for decades—is seriously mistaken.
Award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is to return to a genuine conservatism that is distinct from the hollow promises of contemporary economic and social liberalism. He explains how the great Anglo-American conservative tradition – rooted in empiricism, faith and the nation – emerged and developed in England in the thought of men like Richard Hooker, John Selden, and Edmund Burke, and later inspired American figures ranging from the Federalists to Lincoln. He analyses how this tradition was subverted from the 1960s onwards by the right’s misconceived embrace of ‘fusionism’ and liberalism, and how it can be revived today.
Reflecting on his own first-hand experiences – and the importance of personal behaviour, piety and virtue in rebuilding the culture and politics of conservatism – Hazony makes a powerful counter-cultural case for a revivified conservatism that no-one dissatisfied with the current state of the political right can afford to miss.