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Liberalism Against Itself by Samuel Moyn is a timely book about a seemingly untimely topic. Moyn’s motivation is to diagnose how liberalism came to be an attenuated political philosophy that narrowly defined freedom and liberty, foreclosing the liberating potential of both. He concludes that it was the liberal philosophy of the early Cold War (between 1940 and 1960) where the liberating potential of liberalism was lost to the anxieties of totalitarianism. Moyn’s thesis is not always convincing. There are times where it seems like he is romanticizing an imagined 19th century liberalism that never existed where Hegelian and Marxist philosophy were integrated into a liberal tradition that aimed to liberate all people regardless of race, gender, or nation. Other times, and particularly in the conclusion, he claims that liberalism needs to free itself from its own Cold War past and develop a new political philosophy relevant to the problems of our times - economic inequality, racial injustice, and gender expression.

Liberalism Against Itself takes the form of a series of intellectual biographies of major Cold War thinkers like Judith Sklar, Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and others. My impression is that this book actually started as an intellectual biography of Sklar, since her work is presented with more nuance and she frequently appears in other chapters as an interlocutor or critic. Though critical of all of the Cold War liberals he examines, Moyn is a fair critic and presents a balanced view of their ideas. One of the values of the book is that it would make a good introduction to many of the more obscure thinkers, like Sklar and Gertrude Himmelfarb, that are rarely discussed outside of university conferences.

Overall, Liberalism Against Itself is more of a specialist’s book. Moyn’s analysis is fair and learned, but is unlikely to stimulate the reader not already well-versed in Cold War intellectual history. Still, it’s a worthwhile and short read for those interested in the history of ideas or how liberalism became so toothless.