The Ideas Letter
In our last issue, Evgeny Morozov traced the ascent of a new oligarch-intellectual class. In Ideas Letter 38, David Klion looks at a class in steep decline: liberals. One of the most trenchant observers of the increasingly benighted US political scene, Klion is finishing an eagerly anticipated book on neoconservatism’s legacy.
Brazilian political scientist Gabriela Lotta’s injunction to take bureaucracy seriously chimes with Klion’s analysis. Lotta argues that it’s been a serious error to ignore the bureaucracy’s integral function in a democracy as a repository of expertise. The current assault on bureaucracies in the US, Argentina, and her own Brazil confirms her position.
Lincoln Mitchell was once part of that state apparatus that Trump is dismantling. As Chief of Party at the National Democratic Institute in Georgia, Mitchell had a front-row seat (in anthropological parlance he was a ‘participant-observer’) to the country’s so-called Rose Revolution in 2003-4. He reflects on that moment in the current conjuncture where democracy and autocracy are ensnared in a fight for supremacy.
Our curated section commences with Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s optimistic ideas about re-legitimating liberalism. Writing for The Baffler, Malcolm Harris applies his inimitable analytic skill to show what their warmed-over centrism leaves out. We next turn to our great friends at Africa is a Country for an arresting podcast on the long view of Ghanian political history from Nkrumah to the present day.
In a learned review essay for Modern Intellectual History, Lars Cornelissen historicizes and theorizes neoliberalism’s putative decline. Focused prospectively, Jonathan White follows by examining the need for democratic politics to envision the future worth fighting for. For White, this is a necessary element in an age when all futures appear irredeemably foreclosed.
Last, Jürgen Habermas, the grand old once-upon-a-time Frankfurt School philosopher,
Featured Essays
What is The Ideas Letter
Welcome to The Ideas Letter, a publication that prizes the unconventional. We are not in the business of persuading. We won’t try to convince you of anything—other than that the world is complex and reality ever-shifting. We are not here to advocate. What you will find, and we hope embrace, are contributions from across ideological aisles, from a broad range of disciplines and a true cross-section of thinking. If catholicity is your métier, and you are uneasy with banging the drum but would rather hear its many sounds, this is the place for you.
We really like critique. Not the mean-spirited or spiteful kind, but rather commentary that raises tough questions, unpacks assumptions, sometimes calls people on the carpet, and always provides opportunity for discussion. That is what we are really after—facilitating, augmenting, furthering, and bolstering debate around issues of consequence.
You’ll find here articles, essays, and criticism that will challenge you to think. Let us know your thoughts, and make sure to tell a friend. Or even someone with whom you disagree!