"Liberalism and its (Never-ending) Crises": Helena Rosenblatt in conversation with Anthony Morgan

From the beginning, liberalism has always been a highly contentious concept. Its critics have claimed that it destroyed religion, the family, and the community; that it is morally lax and hedonistic. Its defenders have been just as emphatic, claiming that it stands for freedom, equality, and the public good. At the same time, however, liberals have disagreed about how to translate these principles into practice. How broad should the franchise be? Which freedoms should be guaranteed? What should the role of government be in the economy? And what should liberalism do about neoliberalism?
In this event, leading historian of liberalism, Helena Rosenblatt, helps us to get a sense of the ever-evolving scope of liberalism at a time when thinkers from both sides of the political spectrum are claiming that it is in crisis and is unable to speak to our political, economic, and social moment.
Helena Rosenblatt is Distinguished Professor of History at The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, specialising in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European intellectual history. Her latest book is The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century.
Twitter: / helenarosenblat
Anthony Morgan is editor of The Philosopher and commissioning editor for philosophy at Agenda Publishing.

[@Jinx-d7j]

Thank you for your clear and compelling discussion of the history of liberal ideals. As the title of your important book makes clear, the history that you retell for us has been recently "lost," and so we are very lucky to have you bringing it back to life for us.