Abstract

Isaiah Berlin welcomed the decline of political utopianism and was eager to help it along. But there are reasons to think that occasional moments of utopian aspiration and enthusiasm are necessary to sustain even moderate liberal regimes. In all such regimes there are ‘natural’ tendencies towards authoritarianism and hierarchy, which have to be resisted. And it is hard to image a successful resistance that isn’t fuelled by something very like political utopianism