Edmund Fawcett

Last updated

Edmund Fawcett
NationalityBritish
OccupationWriter
Notable workLiberalism: The Life of an IdeaConservatism: The Fight for a Tradition
Parents
Relatives

Edmund Fawcett is a British political journalist and author.

Contents

Family

Fawcett is the son of the human rights lawyer and international law professor James Fawcett, brother of the artist Charlotte Johnson Wahl, and maternal uncle of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, journalist Rachel Johnson, and politician Jo Johnson.

He is married to Natalia Jiménez, granddaughter of Alberto Jiménez Fraud  [ es ], the Spanish liberal and founding director of the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, who left Spain as a political refugee in 1936.

Career

He worked in London as an editor at New Left Books (now Verso) and in San Francisco as a free-lance editor for Straightarrow Press, the books arm of Rolling Stone .

He then worked at The Economist (1973–2003) as chief correspondent in Washington, Paris, Berlin and Brussels, as well as European and literary editor. In a long career covering international politics, he wrote about the growth of the European Union, democratisation in Spain, Portugal and Greece, the end of the Cold War, new hopes for the United Nations, Germany's unification and the wars in ex-Yugoslavia. In the United States, he travelled widely, followed three presidential campaigns and wrote about the decline of detente in the late 1970s together with the rise of Reaganism. His frequent book reviews have appeared in The New York Times , Guardian and New Statesman , Times Literary Supplement and Political Quarterly .

Fawcett's book, The American Condition, written with a fellow journalist, Tony Thomas, came out in 1981. It was published in Britain as America, Americans. Fawcett also writes for Aeon , [1] openDemocracy, [2] Salon , [3] and other websites.

His book Liberalism: The Life of an Idea was published in 2014, with an updated, expanded second edition in 2018. [4] Fawcett argues that liberalism is a "modern practice of politics" with a specific history, rather than a fixed and unchanging philosophy. [5] He has described himself as a 'left-liberal or liberal leftist'. [5] A companion volume, Conservatism: The Fight for a Tradition was published in 2020, also by Princeton University Press. It offers a fresh and sharp-eyed history of political conservatism from its nineteenth-century origins as opponent of liberalism and democracy to today's hard Right. [6]

The historian Peter Clarke in the Financial Times called Liberalism (2nd edition) "a liberal history, well-founded in its scholarship and also accessibly expounded". [7] The Guardian praised Liberalism as a "remarkable book", and "a helpful characterisation of liberalism". [8] The Wall Street Journal called the book a "fine work of intellectual history". [9] Jack MacLeod, writing in the journal Victorian Studies , said the book "makes a major contribution to our understanding of a concept that, for two centuries, has been central to Western political and cultural thought". [10]

Related Research Articles

Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology, which seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organised religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy. Conservatives tend to favour institutions and practices that enhance social order and historical continuity.

Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech. Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism, looks more negatively on social policies, taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Kristol</span> American columnist, journalist, and writer (1920–2009)

Irving William Kristol was an American journalist and writer. As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual and political culture of the latter half of the twentieth century. He was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism". After his death, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as being "perhaps the most consequential public intellectual of the latter half of the century". He is the father of political writer Bill Kristol.

Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by liberalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre-right politics</span> Political orientation

Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, and conservative liberalism. Conservative and liberal centre-right parties have historically been more successful in the Anglosphere, while Christian democracy has been the primary centre-right ideology in Europe.

Conservatism in the United States is based on a belief in individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. It is one of two major political ideologies of the United States. Conservative and Christian media organizations and American conservative figures are influential, and American conservatism is a large and mainstream ideology in the Republican Party and nation. As of 2021, 36 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, according to polling by Gallup, Inc.

Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern conservative liberalism, scholars sometimes see it as a more positive and less radical variant of classical liberalism; it is also referred to as an individual tradition that distinguishes it from classical liberalism and social liberalism. Conservative liberal parties tend to combine economically liberal policies with more traditional stances and personal beliefs on social and ethical issues. Ordoliberalism is an influential component of conservative-liberal thought, particularly in its German, British, French, Italian, and American manifestations.

Modern liberalism in the United States is based on the combined ideas of civil liberty and equality with support for social justice. It is one of two major political ideologies of the United States. Economically, modern liberalism supports government regulation on private industry, opposes corporate monopolies, and supports labor rights. Its fiscal policy opposes any reduction in spending on the social safety net, while simultaneously promoting income-proportional tax reform policies to reduce deficits. It calls for active government involvement in other social and economic matters such as: reducing economic inequality, increasing diversity, expanding access to education and healthcare, regulating economic activity, and environmentalism. Modern liberalism is a large and mainstream ideology in the Democratic Party and nation. Modern liberalism was formed in the 20th century in response to the Great Depression. Major examples of modern liberal policy programs include the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the Affordable Care Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Corey Robin is an American political theorist, journalist and professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has written books on the role of fear in political life, tracing its presence from Aristotle through the war on terror, and on the nature of conservatism in the modern world, from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump. Most recently, he is the author of a study of Justice Clarence Thomas that argues that the mainspring of Thomas's jurisprudence is a combination of black nationalism and black conservatism.

Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws to which it is claimed society should adhere. It is one of many different forms of conservatism. Traditionalist conservatism, as known today, is based on Edmund Burke's political views as well as the views of Joseph de Maistre. Traditionalists value social ties and the preservation of ancestral institutions above what they perceive as excessive individualism. One of the first uses of the phrase "conservatism" began around 1818 with a monarchist newspaper named "Le Conservateur", written by Francois Rene de Chateaubriand with the help of Louis de Bonald.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property and equality before the law. Liberals espouse various and often mutually warring views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support private property, market economies, individual rights, liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion, constitutional government and privacy rights. Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoram Hazony</span> Israeli-American philosopher (born 1964)

Yoram Reuben Hazony is an Israeli-American philosopher, Bible scholar, and political theorist. He is president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and serves as the chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation. He has argued for national conservatism in his 2018 book The Virtue of Nationalism and 2022's Conservatism: A Rediscovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of modern American conservatism</span>

This timeline of modern American conservatism lists important events, developments and occurrences which have significantly affected conservatism in the United States. With the decline of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party after 1960, the movement is most closely associated with the Republican Party (GOP). Economic conservatives favor less government regulation, lower taxes and weaker labor unions while social conservatives focus on moral issues and neoconservatives focus on democracy worldwide. Conservatives generally distrust the United Nations and Europe and apart from the libertarian wing favor a strong military and give enthusiastic support to Israel.

Daniel A. Bell is a Canadian political theorist. He is currently Chair of Political Theory at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. He was previously Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University.

Traditionalist conservatism in the United States is a political, social philosophy and variant of conservatism. While classical conservatism has been largely based on the philosophy and writings of Aristotle, Edmund Burke, and Joseph de Maistre, the American variant has been influenced by thinkers such as John Adams and Russel Kirk.

Authoritarian conservatism is a political ideology that seeks to uphold order, tradition and hierarchy, often with forcible suppression of radical and revolutionary enemies such as communists, Nazis, and anarchists. Authoritarian conservative movements and regimes have included Chiangism in China, Metaxism in Greece, and Francoism in Spain.

Patrick J. Deneen is an American political theorist, author, and public intellectual, who is a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. In 2018, he came to prominence with the publishing of his book, Why Liberalism Failed.

Conservatism in Russia is a broad system of political beliefs in Russia that is characterized by support for Orthodox values, Russian imperialism, statism, economic interventionism, advocacy for the historical Russian sphere of influence, and a rejection of late modernist era Western culture.

Liberalism has been a notable ideology in Poland for hundreds of years. Polish liberalism emphasizes the preservation of democracy and opposition to authoritarianism. Liberalism was first developed in Poland as a response to the Polish–Lithuanian monarchy, and it continued to develop in response to the partition of Poland through the 19th century and Communist rule in the 20th century. Poland has officially been a liberal democracy since 1989, though its status has challenged as a result of illiberal reforms in the 2010s and 2020s.

References

  1. "Liberal ideals are not yet dead, but more relevant than ever – Edmund Fawcett | Aeon Essays". Aeon. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  2. Fawcett, Edmund. "Edmund Fawcett". openDemocracy. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  3. "Salon.com | News, Politics, Business, Technology & Culture". www.salon.com. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  4. Fawcett, Edmund (2014). Liberalism: The Life of an Idea. Princeton University Press. p. 293.
  5. 1 2 Derbyshire, Jonathan. "Liberalism—the life of an idea: a conversation with Edmund Fawcett" . Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  6. Fawcett, Edmund (20 October 2020). Conservatism. Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0-691-17410-5.
  7. Clarke, Peter (21 December 2018). "What does it mean to be liberal?". Financial Times.
  8. Waldron, Jeremy (29 January 2016). "Liberalism: The Life of an Idea by Edmund Fawcett review – what is a liberal?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  9. Hay, William Anthony (23 July 2014). "Book Review: 'Liberalism: The Life of an Idea' by Edmund Fawcett". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  10. MacLeod, Jock (21 December 2016). "Liberalism: The Life of an Idea by Edmund Fawcett (review)". Victorian Studies. 58 (4): 719–721. doi:10.2979/victorianstudies.58.4.05. ISSN   1527-2052.