Critical Muslim 54: Liberalism

Paperback, 288 pages
July 2025
9781805263074

Since its beginnings—born out of the Enlightenment—liberalism has risen to become the global standard; an almost utopian ideal, against which political and moral philosophies have been judged. Yet, one quarter of the way through the twenty-first century, we wonder if the liberal idea is all but dead. The freedoms imbued by civil and human rights, individualism and private property have built the modern world, but not without growing pains and vestigial aches. More than a simple philosophy, liberalism has informed economics, secularism, language and culture. As the global hegemon, it has at times been cast as an enemy of the ‘other’; but, in fact, the liberalism that dominated in the West is not without its non-Western seeds and influences. This issue of Critical Muslim gives liberalism a long overdue analysis, evaluating how well it has fared up to the present, and considering how the future will continue to be shaped by its legacy.