Abstract

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, and, 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. Through eleven 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 the 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.