Liberal Progressivism: Politics and Class in the Age of Neoliberalism and Climate Change

173 Pages·2021·1.236 MB·English

by  Gordon Hak

“Liberal Progressivism offers a powerful critique of contemporary identity
politics as it has reshaped today’s polarized society, and it does so with a
stubborn independence that sets it apart from both the celebrants of ‘inclusivity’
and the jeremiads of its conservative opponents. Anyone interested in the future
of the left and the chasm separating so many bourgeois progressives from the
working class will find it a riveting read.”
Ian McKay, Professor of History, McMaster University

Liberal Progressivism
In Liberal Progressivism , Gordon Hak makes the case for the value of theory
and philosophy in understanding the day-to-day political realm of elections,
politicians, scandals, fund-raising, and law-making. Running through the book
is the big question of how political attitudes and actions are philosophically
grounded: why do people believe what they do?
Framed as a debate between liberal progressivism and the Marxist-informed
left, and between liberal progressives and the non-university-educated
working class, an informant named “Gord” is introduced. Drawing on his life
experience, he acts as a guide into the worlds of liberal progressivism, the non-
university-educated working class, and the Marxist-informed intellectual-left
modes of existence that he has personally experienced. In 11 chapters, the book
presents an appreciation of nonbinary relationships, open-ended dialectics,
complex systems and equilibrium theory, and the importance of emotions in
political life.
Through a transdisciplinary approach, the book delves into the interconnecting
worlds of politics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, and epistemology
to produce a celebration of political theory which deserves to be widely read by
students, scholars, and activists.
G ordon Hak is Professor Emeritus in the History Department, Vancouver
Island University, Canada.
Routledge Innovations in Political Theory
The Problem of Value Pluralism
Isaiah Berlin and Beyond
George Crowder
On Biopolitics
An Inquiry into Nature and Language
Marco Piasentier
Democracy, the Courts, and the Liberal State
A Comparative Analysis of American and German Constitutionalism
David Miles
Legislative Deliberative Democracy
Debating Acts Restricting Freedom of Speech during War
Avichai Levit
The Legitimacy of Modern Democracy
A Study on the Political Thought of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt and Hans Kelsen
Pedro T. Magalhães
Eric Voegelin’s Political Readings
From the Ancient Greeks to Modern Times
Edited by Bernat Torres & Josep Monserrat
Liberal Progressivism
Politics and Class in the Age of Neoliberalism and Climate Change
Gordon Hak
Love and Politics
Persistent Human Desires as a Foundation for Liberation
Jeffery L. Nicholas
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/Routledge-Innovations-in-Political-Theory/book-series/IPT
Liberal Progressivism
Politics and Class in the Age of
Neoliberalism and Climate Change
Gordon Hak
First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Gordon Hak
The right of Gordon Hak to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hak, Gordon H. (Gordon Hugh), author.
Title: Liberal progressivism : politics and class in the age of
neoliberalism and climate change / Gordon Hak.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge
innovations in political theory; vol 91 | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021002093 (print) | LCCN 2021002094 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367616694 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003110125 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781000388688 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781000388725 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Liberalism—Social aspects. | Progressivism (United
States politics) | Social classes—Political aspects.
Classification: LCC JC574 .H353 2021 (print) | LCC JC574 (ebook) |
DDC 320.51/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021002093
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021002094
ISBN: 978-0-367-61669-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-62655-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-11012-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Locating Liberal Progressivism 18
3 Apparatuses of Analysis, or How You See Is What
You Get 31
4 A World of Work in the 1970s 51
5 Engaging With Radicals and Radicalism 68
6 Among Liberal Progressives 83
7 The Economy and Capitalism 94
8 Identity, Inclusion, Diversity, Immigration,
and Fundamentalism 106
9 Environmentalism and Climate Change 119
10 Ideological Struggle, Movement Politics, and Activists 141
11 Final Words 159
Index 162

1 Introduction
T his book is a study of liberal progressivism, a powerful force in modern life
that strives for social and economic change by pushing democratic govern-
ments to control corporations for the benefit of the people, arrest climate change,
enhance the environment, mitigate economic inequality, and create a diverse,
inclusive society. Most obviously, liberal progressives define themselves in
relation to their foes, who include climate-change deniers, anti-abortionists,
racists, white nationalists, religious fundamentalists, science skeptics, sexists,
antifeminists, wayward corporations, and those hostile to LGBTQ+ rights.
Liberal-progressive activists commonly refer to themselves simply as “pro-
gressives,” distancing themselves from what they consider the unsavoury
strains in liberalism, notably neoliberalism and old-school liberalism, though
in some instances the terms “democratic socialists” or “social democrats” are
employed, terms which also obscure the liberal content of liberal progressiv-
ism. At the same time, liberal progressivism shuns the radical left associated
with Marxism, revolution, and communism, a left that remains committed to
overthrowing capitalism.
I n order to draw out more fully and subtly its make-up, as well as its place
in the political landscape, liberal progressivism is examined here in relation
to the worlds of the non-university-educated working class and the radical
intellectual-left, which is essentially the Marxist-informed, university-based
left. The argument is that these are three recognizable, distinct worlds, and that
despite fuzzy boundaries, they provide different realities for those who inhabit
them. These realms will be called modes of existence. The notion of a mode of
existence, says philosopher of science, sociologist, and anthropologist Bruno
Latour, suggests thinking about a group of people with reference to “their mode
of being, their ethology, their habitat in some way, their feeling for a place.”1
In his work, Latour then proceeds to take the term and give it his own twist in
meaning, one that drives his ongoing, expansive exploration of modernity. In
this book, I too appropriate the term, using it in my own way to describe the
social, political, historical, ideological, cultural, material, and economic situa-
tion of identifiable groups of people. Liberal progressivism through this lens is
a mode of existence, a complex set of institutions, practices, and beliefs rooted
in a definable social agglomeration.