Politics doesn’t just govern us. It shapes who we are, what we value, and what we think makes a life worth living.

I’ve been exploring this idea for fifteen years, in books on human rights, on liberalism, and now on states that set out to shape their citizens’ character.

I’m Professor of Politics and Philosophy atthe University of Sydney. Originally from Vancouver, I earned my PhD at Johns Hopkins in 2007 and now call Sydney home.

LATEST BOOK

Liberalism as a Way of Life (Princeton University Press, 2024) argues that liberalism influences not just our politics but our values, humour, morality, and everyday sense of what makes life worthwhile. Named a Best Book of 2024 by The New Yorker, Australian Book Review, and Persuasion, it was praised as “stirring and clarifying” by David Brooks in The New York Times and “daring and engrossing” by Becca Rothfeld in The Washington Post.

CURRENT PROJECT

The Good Life State: Politics After Liberalism (under contract with Allen Lane (Penguin) in the UK and Liveright (W.W. Norton) in North America) examines a global return to one of politics’ oldest ambitions: using state power to shape citizens’ conceptions of the good life. More about the project · Read a short introduction in Noema.

Represented by Amelia Atlas, CAA, New York.