The Paradox of the American Left

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You've been a leading voice of the American left for many decades. How do you feel about the shift that, in your mind at least, has taken place over the last three or four decades? I think there are people on the left who would like to go back to the old social economic left program. The left has gotten somehow diverted into this search for ideological purity on all of the identitarian issues.

Michael Walzer is an eminent political philosopher and the author of numerous books, including Just and Unjust Wars and Spheres of Justice. He is professor emeritus at the Institute of Advanced Study, has taught at Harvard University, and is editor emeritus of the magazine Dissent.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Michael Walzer discuss why, though he is a democratic socialist, he believes that there are certain acceptable forms of inequality; what forms of injustice true egalitarians should focus on fighting; and the threats to liberalism from the post-liberal right and the illiberal left.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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