Introduction to The Conservative Critique of Liberalism

David McGrogan and Martin Beckstein

A chapter in The Conservative Critique of Liberalism, 2026, pp 1-14 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This editorial introduction frames the book's overarching inquiry into the conservative critique of liberalism, a theme of growing relevance amid contemporary challenges to liberal values and institutions. Rather than positing a single, coherent conservative response, the introduction emphasizes the multiplicity and heterogeneity of conservative critiques, shaped by different historical, epistemological, and axiological commitments. The text develops a conceptual framework distinguishing between substantive and procedural conservatisms, and contrasts them with liberalism's core commitments to constitutional rights, equality, democracy, tolerance, progress, and secularism. The introduction argues that conservative critique functions both immanently – by revealing internal contradictions within liberalism – and transcendentally – by challenging its historical foundations and normative assumptions. In doing so, the conservative critique not only destabilizes liberal doctrine but also expands the conceptual possibilities of critique itself. This book contributes to a theoretically and historically informed understanding of liberalism's contested legacy and its conservative counternarratives.

Keywords: Conservatism; Critique; Ideology; Liberalism; Political theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309214
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