Liberalism

Giles Fraser writes 'There is another tradition of liberalism... And, in this tradition, individualism is a dirty word. The point of Tocqueville’s liberalism.. is to disperse power, not to establish the individual as some impregnable citadel with its fortifications directed towards our fellow human beings. Individuals are freed from the oppressive power of absolute monarchy or Papal proclamation, not so that they can become free-floating centres of self-government, but precisely so that they can form “associations”, and thus, through the power of these new collectives, disperse power throughout society.' 

Listen to his interview with Prof Larry Siedentop, about Tocqueville