Post-Liberalism in Conversation

Why is liberalism becoming illiberal?

Thursday, March 20, 2025

5:30 - 7:00 PM

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW, State Room 7th floor

Washington DC 20052

This event is on-the-record and open to the public and media.

Contemporary liberalism has increasingly faced charges of being itself illiberal. Indeed, there is a common perception that many mainstream elites in intellectual, corporate, and political spaces have shifted in their beliefs and practices and lent themselves to quite illiberal stances, particularly on cultural issues. Kevin Vallier and Brad Littlejohn agree with that assessment, and this event will put them in conversation about the causes of the current state of affairs. Some contend that the reason for the shift is the abandonment of a religious core that predates the emergence of classical liberalism - one that has acted as a guardrail for vibrant liberalism. Others maintain that secularism is not to blame and that it is entirely possible to retain humble and healthy liberal practices without invoking an imperatively religious component. What are the illiberal practices and beliefs marking modern liberalism, what is the reason for their emergence, and what should be done?

This speaker series, organized by the Illiberalism Studies Program and the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom at the George Washington University, proposes to provide a space for intellectually stimulating discussions surrounding liberal and non-liberal ideologies. We want to promote substantive discussion of political and economic visions for the future. By facilitating open dialogues, this series seeks to transcend ideological boundaries and foster a deeper comprehension of each other's viewpoints.

Speakers

Kevin Vallier is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toledo’s Institute for American Constitutional Thought and Leadership. Vallier’s interests lie primarily in political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). He is the author of four monographs, five edited volumes, and over fifty peer-reviewed book chapters and journal articles. His books include Liberal Politics and Public Faith: Beyond Separation (Routledge 2014), Must Politics Be War? Restoring Our Trust in the Open Society (Oxford UP 2019), and Trust in a Polarized Age (Oxford UP 2020). His new book is All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism (Oxford UP 2023). For more information, see kevinvallier.com or follow him @kvallier on Twitter.

Brad Littlejohn is Director of Programs and Education at American Compass. His wide-ranging research and writing encompasses work on the relation of digital technology and embodiment, the appropriate limits of free speech, the nature of freedom and authority in the Christian tradition, and the retrieval of a Protestant natural law ethic. He is the author of Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License (B&H, 2025), and has authored or edited eighteen other books. He is a weekly Opinion Contributor at WORLD Magazine, and publishes extensively in other outlets such as First Things, National Affairs, American Affairs, The American Conservative, The Public Discourse, American Compass, Modern Age, Law and Liberty, and many more.

Moderator

Laura K. Field is a writer in Washington, DC. She studied political theory and public law at the University of Texas at Austin, has held faculty positions at Rhodes College, Georgetown University, and American University, and today is a Scholar in Residence at American University and Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center. Laura has a longstanding interest in political culture and how thinking (and writing, and rhetoric) shapes our lives, which pairs well with current questions about the crisis of liberalism and rising authoritarianism around the world. She has worked extensively on the right-wing (“New Right”) intellectuals who rose to prominence under the Trump administration and is currently writing a book on the subject for Princeton University Press.

Chair

Samuel Goldman is Associate Professor of Political Science at GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences as well as Executive Director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and Director of the Politics & Values Program. His first book God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018. His second book, After Nationalism, was published from the University of Pennsylvania Press in early 2021. In addition to his academic research, Goldman's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.