The Western Ideologyand Other Essays brings together a selection of Andrew Gamble’s essays on political ideas and ideologies written over the last forty years, combining influential and hard-to-find pieces and chosen to illustrate some of the main themes of his writing in this field. The title essay argues that economic liberalism in varied forms has been central to the dominant interpretation of the western ideology and of liberal modernity in the last two hundred and fifty years, explores the political conditions which made this possible and whether they can be sustained. Essays in the first ... More

The Western Ideologyand Other Essays brings together a selection of Andrew Gamble’s essays on political ideas and ideologies written over the last forty years, combining influential and hard-to-find pieces and chosen to illustrate some of the main themes of his writing in this field. The title essay argues that economic liberalism in varied forms has been central to the dominant interpretation of the western ideology and of liberal modernity in the last two hundred and fifty years, explores the political conditions which made this possible and whether they can be sustained. Essays in the first section explore the character of economic liberalism and why it has been such a resilient form of political economy through an examination of the writings of Hayek, the relationship of neo-liberalism to older forms of economic liberalism, and the interplay of ideas and interests. Other essays explore Marxist, social democratic, and Conservative critiques and alternatives to the western ideology. A final essay explores critiques of the western ideology which reject ideas of progress in human affairs. Contents include a biographical introduction, notes on the essays and an epilogue which revisits the idea of the western ideology and its future, reflecting on recent political developments.