The Delicate Order of Liberalism: Resentment Politics and the Public Trust

In response to the advance of right-wing populism in many Western democracies, political economists have sought explanations for political disaffection in the socioeconomic dislocations wrought by globalization, deindustrialization, and automation. Distrust of institutions and elites has been identified as a consequence of open markets and neoliberal governance. While affirming the public trust as a cornerstone of liberal democracy, this article directs analysis of the contemporary condition to a broader set of uniquely psychosocial and cultural dynamics. We identify sentiments ranging from disillusion to defiance that are now fueling a runaway politics narrowly defined around race, ethnicity, and national identity. We examine the stakes of eroding public trust in historical and theoretical perspective through an analysis of key works of Karl Polanyi, John Maynard Keynes, and E. H. Carr. Drawing parallels to their assessments of the interwar period, we argue that today’s resentment politics is not singularly the product of economic hardship or even institutional failure, but emerges also from a breakdown of the social and cultural ties that underpin liberalism—a “delicate order” built in part on sublimated psychosocial understandings of agency and community. Democracy again hangs in the balance.