Is Liberalism Inescapable?

This chapter lays out the complex relationship between the idea of liberalism and political thought—a relationship that is at once powerful and fraught. Despite wide ranging approaches to, and evaluations of, liberalism in studies of politics—the persistent attention given to liberalism as a focus of inquiry now constitutes a shared methodological reality: attending to liberalism in some form appears to be a central condition of contemporary political theorizing. The chapter outlines the case for pursuing this argument through the paradigmatic figure of J.S. Mill, by noting the ways in which Mill’s thought has been stretched and styled to complement what are, first and foremost, examinations of the liberal idea. Interrogating Mill’s canonical status within the “liberal tradition” affords both a fresh take on this famed thinker and a critical view of the intellectual consequences of the liberalism trap.