Matt Sleat – författare

Liberalism has long been the dominant ideology of the modern West. In recent years, however, post-liberalism has emerged as a central movement within the 'New Right' and a formidable intellectual challenge to the mainstream. Even American Vice-President J.D. Vance has described himself as part of the 'post-liberal right'.Matt Sleat presents the first comprehensive and critical analysis of post-liberalism. Engaging with the work of key theorists such as Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, he explores the theological influences on the movement, as well as its affinities and tensions with related New Right projects like National Conservatism. Sleat argues that post-liberalism's politics of the common good rests on a mistaken diagnosis of our soical malaise. Its project, in turn, is not only incoherent and dangerous but likely achievable only through authoritarian and deeply coercive means. He also considers how liberals might respond to post-liberalism, and what its rise reveals about the future of conservative politics.Post-Liberalism is an essential work for students and scholars of political science and philosophy, as well as anyone concerned with the forces reshaping western politics today.

Is political theory political enough? Or does a tendency toward abstraction, idealization, moralism, and utopianism leave contemporary political theory out of touch with real politics as it actually takes place, and hence unable to speak meaningfully to or about our world? Realist political thought, which has enjoyed a significant revival of interest in recent years, seeks to avoid such pitfalls by remaining attentive to the distinctiveness of politics and the ways its realities ought to shape how we think and act in the political realm.Politics Recovered brings together prominent scholars to develop what it might mean to theorize politics “realistically.” Intervening in philosophical debates such as the relationship between politics and morality and the role that facts and emotions should play in the theorization of political values, the volume addresses how a realist approach aids our understanding of pressing issues such as global justice, inequality, poverty, political corruption, the value of democracy, governmental secrecy, and demands for transparency. Contributors open up fruitful dialogues with a variety of other realist approaches, such as feminist theory, democratic theory, and international relations. By exploring the nature and prospects of realist thought, Politics Recovered shows how political theory can affirm reality in order to provide meaningful and compelling answers to the fundamental questions of political life.

Political realism has recently moved to the centre of debates in contemporary political theory. In this monograph, Matt Sleat presents the first comprehensive overview of the resurgence of interest in realist political theory and develops a unique and original defence of liberal politics in realist terms. Through explorations of the work of a diverse range of thinkers, including Bernard Williams, John Rawls, Raymond Geuss, Judith Shklar, John Gray, Carl Schmitt and Max Weber, the author advances a theory of liberal realism that is consistent with the realist emphasis on disagreement and conflict yet still recognisably liberal in its concern with respecting individuals’ freedom and constraining political power. The result is a unique contribution to the ongoing debates surrounding realism and an original and timely re-imagining of liberal theory for the twenty-first century. This provocative work will be of interest to students and all concerned with the possibility of realising liberalism and its moral aspirations in today’s world.

Liberalism has long been the dominant ideology of the modern West. In recent years, however, post-liberalism has emerged as a central movement within the 'New Right' and a formidable intellectual challenge to the mainstream. Even American Vice-President J.D. Vance has described himself as part of the 'post-liberal right'.Matt Sleat presents the first comprehensive and critical analysis of post-liberalism. Engaging with the work of key theorists such as Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, he explores the theological influences on the movement, as well as its affinities and tensions with related New Right projects like National Conservatism. Sleat argues that post-liberalism's politics of the common good rests on a mistaken diagnosis of our soical malaise. Its project, in turn, is not only incoherent and dangerous but likely achievable only through authoritarian and deeply coercive means. He also considers how liberals might respond to post-liberalism, and what its rise reveals about the future of conservative politics.Post-Liberalism is an essential work for students and scholars of political science and philosophy, as well as anyone concerned with the forces reshaping western politics today.

Liberalism has long been the dominant ideology of the modern West. In recent years, however, post-liberalism has emerged as a central movement within the 'New Right' and a formidable intellectual challenge to the mainstream. Even American Vice-President J.D. Vance has described himself as part of the 'post-liberal right'.Matt Sleat presents the first comprehensive and critical analysis of post-liberalism. Engaging with the work of key theorists such as Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, he explores the theological influences on the movement, as well as its affinities and tensions with related New Right projects like National Conservatism. Sleat argues that post-liberalism's politics of the common good rests on a mistaken diagnosis of our soical malaise. Its project, in turn, is not only incoherent and dangerous but likely achievable only through authoritarian and deeply coercive means. He also considers how liberals might respond to post-liberalism, and what its rise reveals about the future of conservative politics.Post-Liberalism is an essential work for students and scholars of political science and philosophy, as well as anyone concerned with the forces reshaping western politics today.