We are in a radical moment. The planet is burning. Inequality is biting. Nationalism is on the rise.
Resurgent but nostalgic ideologies, from statist socialism to the nationalist right, will fail to meet these challenges. The former saps freedom and innovation; the latter is obsessed by vilifying ‘enemies’ rather than providing real answers. At their extreme edges, they both pose a serious threat to democratic norms and practices.
However, the alternative of incremental reformism is in hock to vested interests and insufficient to the scale of change needed. Liberal institutions, domestically and globally, are fundamental and require robust defence against attack from extremes. But progressive liberal ideology has too often left injustices unaddressed and this has sometimes helped fuel those very extremes.
