Kahan’s Liberalism

This review essay analyzes Alan Kahan’s Freedom from Fear: An Incomplete History of Liberalism. In so doing, it draws some general lessons about liberalism and its historiography as well. It commends Kahan for offering a nuanced and thorough portrayal of liberalism’s variegated history. In particular, it applauds the book’s four-stage periodization of liberalism, its emphasis on liberalism’s simultaneous opposition to both oligarchy and democracy, and its account of liberalism’s ethical preoccupation. However, it criticizes Kahan’s framing of liberalism as primarily a quest to eliminate fear. It also rejects Freedom from Fear’s conclusions about the nature of the populist challenge to liberalism today.