Ett kvartssekel har gått sedan millennieskiftet, en tid som har inneburit alltifrån finans- och migrationskriser och kriget mot terrorismen till arabiska våren och högerpopulismens återtåg. Det har förts debatter om identitetspolitik och tolerans. Världen har sett makalösa innovationer, stora välståndsökningar och ett alltmer närvarande internet. Liberalismens kris och lösningen på densamma har varit ett återkommande ämne i debatten.

I En liberal kanon tecknas ett porträtt av hur frihetens idéer utvecklats i vår tid genom att 2000-talets hittills viktigaste texter för liberalismen samlas. Utdragen består av såväl skönlitterära som akademiska texter, liksom tal, debattinlägg och kulturyttringar. Här blandas ämnen och tänkare som på olika sätt har fört liberalismen framåt, i takt eller i otakt med världens utveckling.

Antologin har tagits fram av Timbro förlag i samarbete med Liberal Debatt. Med texter av bland andra Anne Applebaum, Michel Houellebecq, Katrine Kielos, Karl-Ove Knausgård, Johan Norberg och Boualem Sansal.

The changing face of the liberal creed from the ancient world to todayThe Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry—and a term of derision—in today’s increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words “liberal” and “liberalism,” revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning.In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. She shows that it was the French Revolution that gave birth to liberalism and Germans who transformed it. Only in the mid-twentieth century did the concept become widely known in the United States—and then, as now, its meaning was hotly debated. Liberals were originally moralists at heart. They believed in the power of religion to reform society, emphasized the sanctity of the family, and never spoke of rights without speaking of duties. It was only during the Cold War and America’s growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms.Today, we still can’t seem to agree on liberalism’s meaning. In the United States, a “liberal” is someone who advocates big government, while in France, big government is contrary to “liberalism.” Political debates become befuddled because of semantic and conceptual confusion. The Lost History of Liberalism sets the record straight on a core tenet of today’s political conversation and lays the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy.

Ett kvartssekel har gått sedan millennieskiftet, en tid som har inneburit alltifrån finans- och migrationskriser och kriget mot terrorismen till arabiska våren och högerpopulismens återtåg. Det har förts debatter om identitetspolitik och tolerans. Världen har sett makalösa innovationer, stora välståndsökningar och ett alltmer närvarande internet. Liberalismens kris och lösningen på densamma har varit ett återkommande ämne i debatten.

I En liberal kanon tecknas ett porträtt av hur frihetens idéer utvecklats i vår tid genom att 2000-talets hittills viktigaste texter för liberalismen samlas. Utdragen består av såväl skönlitterära som akademiska texter, liksom tal, debattinlägg och kulturyttringar. Här blandas ämnen och tänkare som på olika sätt har fört liberalismen framåt, i takt eller i otakt med världens utveckling.

Antologin har tagits fram av Timbro förlag i samarbete med Liberal Debatt. Med texter av bland andra Anne Applebaum, Michel Houellebecq, Katrine Kielos, Karl-Ove Knausgård, Johan Norberg och Boualem Sansal.

The changing face of the liberal creed from the ancient world to todayThe Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry—and a term of derision—in today’s increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words “liberal” and “liberalism,” revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning.In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. She shows that it was the French Revolution that gave birth to liberalism and Germans who transformed it. Only in the mid-twentieth century did the concept become widely known in the United States—and then, as now, its meaning was hotly debated. Liberals were originally moralists at heart. They believed in the power of religion to reform society, emphasized the sanctity of the family, and never spoke of rights without speaking of duties. It was only during the Cold War and America’s growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms.Today, we still can’t seem to agree on liberalism’s meaning. In the United States, a “liberal” is someone who advocates big government, while in France, big government is contrary to “liberalism.” Political debates become befuddled because of semantic and conceptual confusion. The Lost History of Liberalism sets the record straight on a core tenet of today’s political conversation and lays the foundations for a more constructive discussion about the future of liberal democracy.