Interrogating Liberalism with Francis Fukuyama

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ‘90s, political scientist Francis Fukuyama argued that humankind had reached its ideological end as more countries embraced liberal democracy. Today, this theory has come under greater scrutiny, and people across the political spectrum are dissatisfied with this system. In this episode of On the Frontlines of Democracy, Francis Fukuyama and Sanjay Ruparelia discuss the pitfalls of liberalism, and whether or not its merits outweigh its shortcomings. 

In this episode of On The Frontlines of Democracy, host Sanjay Ruparelia sits down with Stanford professor and political scientist Francis Fukuyama to discuss the philosophy of classical liberalism and the modern-day growing discontent with liberal democracy. 

Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Guest: Francis Fukuyama, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and professor with the Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law. 

Background Reading:

Francis Fukuyama’s  Liberalism and its Discontents 

Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History

Francis Fukuyama’s  More Proof That This Really Is The End Of History

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America 

James Tully’s An Approach to Political Philosophy: Locke in Contexts

Karl Marx’s Capital: Critique of Political Economy

Michel Foucault’s The Order of Things

Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment