The Collapse of Liberalism

Why America Needs a New Left

By (author) Charles Noble

Not available to order

Publication date:

03 May 2004

Length of book:

216 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742574007

In The Collapse of Liberalism, noted political scientist Charles Noble shows how the American political system frustrates progressive reform while taking liberalism to task for not being radical enough-for what he sees as a long history of accommodating the very same political institutions and corporate interests that it has wanted to challenge. As a result, Noble argues, liberals have been unable to solve the problems of class, race and gender inequality that bedevil the United States. In short, American liberalism suffers not only at the hands of conservatives, but also from its own failures of vision, will, and political strategy. Beyond a critique, Noble offers a breath-taking new progressive strategy for rebuilding America. Clear and thought-provoking, The Collapse of Liberalism is a politically engaged interrogation of the way American liberals think about politics and social reform.
With fearsome erudition and mordant wit, Professor Noble lays out the reasons why the progressive movement in the United States has lost its way so badly in the treacherous labyrinth of the two-party system, thereby betraying its own interests as well asthe public's. In an era of open revolt against politics-as-usual and the eruption of new grassroots campaigning techniques inspired by the Internet, his book could not be more timely. It deserves to become a primer for all nascent political movements, inthe United States and far beyond...