Abstract:
How have progressives, or the ‘liberal Left’, shaped up since the Trump victory? For the most part, not so well. By obsessing over every ‘scandal’ and every tweet, and hoping for salvation via sinister Russian cabals or former porn stars, much of the liberal Left has resolutely failed to explore its own shortcomings – not simply the conditions that led to Trump’s victory in the first place but the conditions of its own world view. It is not possible to cover all of the liberal Left, but I would argue that certain features can be identified across this diverse constituency that dominates culture and the media, from the establishment press and intelligentsia to emergent groups of younger ‘creatives’ steeped in identity politics and social-media activism. Despite the diversity of taste at each end of the liberal spectrum – from the cultural elite at The New Yorker to younger pro-Hillary figures like Lena Dunham – a common element is the assumption that liberalism is inexorably intertwined with progress, and that progressive politics guides and supports this momentum. Witness Adam Gopnik’s complacent platitudes in The New Yorker after Clinton’s defeat.
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