The Right Wants You Stupid
The eternal quest to preserve the “pleasing illusions” that hold society and its authorities together.
Matthew McManus
Matt McManus is the author of "The Rise of Postmodern Conservatism," amongst other books, and he is an assistant professor in the Political Science department at Spelman College.
Also a Review of Habermas
Is Habermas a titan of recent philosophy or a stodgy academic lacking a burning political vision?
halftheanswer
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself? (Half the Answer #64, with Matt McManus)
Trent and Caitlin catch up with political science assistant professor Matt McManus. They discuss the narratives surrounding resistance in the Twin Cities, the loud and ugly voices on the right describing an ideology of cruelty and dehumanization, and the power of regular people to puncture false claims from the government.
Liberalism or Inertia? Cass Sunstein's "Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom"
Sunstein’s book adopts a small-c conservative defensiveness that belies a now-requisite rejuvenating liberal imagination.
The Utopianism of the Meritocrats
The psychological and historical appeal of meritocracy is inversely proportional to its tenability.
halftheanswer
Half the Answer #36: Charlie Kirk and the Roots of the Far Right
Trent and Caitlin talk with political science professor Matt McManus about far-right thinkers and their journey through the past two decades. He regales the HTA audience with nuggets of wisdom from Charlie Kirk's books and other pieces of right-wing political theory he has reviewed. Half the Answer can
The Modern Far Right Canon
Modern far right thinkers style themselves as an insurgent movement against power, combining a self-pitying victimhood with exaggerated fantasies of rediscovered manliness.
Rawls in the Streets
Katrina Forrester's In the Shadow of Justice shows the radical potential—and political limitations—of John Rawls' philosophy.
neonliberalism
Neon Liberalism #31: The Inner Philosophy of the Far Right
The reactionary right is in ascendance in the Trump administration. It's easy to dismiss them as a cabal of incoherent fools scrambling for Trump's ear. But there is a deeper philosophy animating their political project: one based on a longing for an imagined aristocratic past, a
The Far Right Canon
The radical right has its own canon of intellectuals—aristocratic, resentful, and a profound challenge to liberal philosophy.
Selective Acceptance of Settled Norms: Tristan Rogers' "Conservatism: Past and Present"
Rogers has written a useful guide to the western conservative intellectual tradition that runs into trouble when it approaches the conservatives of our day.
neonliberalism
Neon Liberalism #19: Liberal...Socialism?
Samantha and fellow Liberal Currents editor Paul Crider talk to Matt McManus, author of The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, about a forgotten political tradition, the intellectual fallout of the Russian Revolution, and what this all means for how we think about the contemporary dangers of oligarchy and reaction. Liberal.