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Time of Monsters: What Future for Liberalism?; Quarterly Essay 103
Do we still believe in progress? In this wonderfully clarifying essay, Waleed Aly examines what happened to liberalism. As a set of ideas, it offered equality and guaranteed freedoms. But more and more, we live in a post-liberal world.
Aly maps the new politics arising – both conservative and progressive – as mainstream politics loses its appeal. He examines the battles over identity, injustice and speech, and discusses the way instability has become central to contemporary life. When did freedom start to feel so unfree?
This is a supple and original essay about the forces transforming our politics.
"Is this what it looks like when an old order dies? … Liberalism's confidence that humans are ultimately progressive beings seems to have overlooked how much we value stability, predictability and meaning. Our age of discontent stems directly from the sense that things are unmoored and beyond our grasp; that we are serving the system, rather than it serving us."—Waleed Aly, Time of Monsters
'Aly's extensive evidence shows that liberalism is listless . . . we owe him much for restating the case for older forms of political liberty' — Pearls and Irritations
Aly maps the new politics arising – both conservative and progressive – as mainstream politics loses its appeal. He examines the battles over identity, injustice and speech, and discusses the way instability has become central to contemporary life. When did freedom start to feel so unfree?
This is a supple and original essay about the forces transforming our politics.
"Is this what it looks like when an old order dies? … Liberalism's confidence that humans are ultimately progressive beings seems to have overlooked how much we value stability, predictability and meaning. Our age of discontent stems directly from the sense that things are unmoored and beyond our grasp; that we are serving the system, rather than it serving us."—Waleed Aly, Time of Monsters
'Aly's extensive evidence shows that liberalism is listless . . . we owe him much for restating the case for older forms of political liberty' — Pearls and Irritations
- GenresPolitics
150 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2026
About the author
Waleed Aly
9 books15 followersWaleed Aly is a broadcaster, author and academic. His social and political commentary has produced an award-winning book and multiple literary short-listings, and appears in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Australian, The Sunday Times of India, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is the author of What’s Right? The Future of Conservatism in Australia. His debut book, People Like Us: How Arrogance is Dividing Islam and The West (Picador, 2007), was shortlisted for several awards including the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 18, 2026
Walleed Aly is someone who is referred to as a ‘public intellectual’. To some, especially those connected to the Murdoch media, this a term to be denigrated. In these days of social media those who seem unable to construct a simple sentence get to express an opinion. Today the internet is jammed with internet influencers and content creators. They need little knowledge nor writing skills, just access to AI. If you read this essay, you will realize Aly brings deep knowledge and understanding of the subject of Liberalism with a fluent and coherent writing style.
If you think the heading signals an essay on an Australian political party or on those evil incarnates found in the US then you might benefit by reading a few authors that Aly mentions, Hobbes, Locke, Mills, Rawls, Keynes, Marx, Smith, Hayek and Friedman.
In the opening paragraphs Aly explains the meaning of the heading Time of Monsters. The quote is attributed to one of my favourite political philosophers, Antonio Gramsci. Aly quickly explains that it is not a direct quote from the philosopher and Gramsci’s original quote did not mention monsters. “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born now is the time of monsters” Gramsci’s real words were, “In this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” Not so literary clever. My interpretation is that liberalism has reigned in the recent past for much of the English-speaking world but we now have instability, and different forces (monsters) are now rising to challenge traditional liberalism.
If I could go off on a tangent for a short distance. I was greatly influenced by sociologist R.W. Connell and her text “Ruling Class, Ruling Culture, Studies of Conflict, Power and Hegemony in Australian Life.” It was though her work that I discovered the writing of Antonio Gramsci. Back to Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, where he explains how a ruling class maintains power not through force or violence, but through the voluntary consent of the people. The “common sense” of the ruling class happened to coincide with the beliefs of the wealthy. In Australia today we have Pauline Hanson and One Nation promoting a ’common sense’ approach She constructs a strict, binary division: the morally pure, ordinary Australian people versus the corrupt, out-of-touch political and media elite. Hanson is one of the monsters.
Those with a limited background in liberal philosophy and political science may find the early discussion demanding and complex. I would stay with the essay as Aly starts to apply the principles discussed into the real world of the recent past and today.
Liberalism had its roots in seventeenth century and ‘liberal’ governments started to take office in the late eighteenth century. Liberalism is a political and economic doctrine with guidelines emphasizing individual autonomy, equal opportunity and rights (life, liberty and property.) The doctrine evolved over the centuries where economics played an increasing role. It was Adam Smith who brought in the importance of the market. Liberalism objected to hierarchy in relation to individuals but not necessarily to groups. I have always thought that the most beneficial outcome of liberalism was representative democracy.
Aly argues that for much of the recent history of Liberalism managed to deal with the tensions within liberalism. Conservatives within the church of liberalism could be innovative in economics but reactionary in cultural issues (multiculturalism, role of women, environmental issues, specifically climate change, sexual identity, race.) In the early 1980s the “Washington consensus” (deregulation, privatisation, free trade, stifling trade unions) became the mantra of Reagan, Thatcher, Howard and subsequent governments. Aly argued that the liberalism of the time saw continued growth and prosperity as the key to the continued success of the system.
The growth of social media affected liberalism. Ali writes that the broader community was being siloed into like minded groups, the algorithms was sorting us.
In the last chapters Aly starts to use the terms ‘woke politics’ and ‘post-liberalism.’ I find the term ‘woke’ as purely a term of abuse aimed at people with progressive views. I think he cheapens himself and his writing by using this term.
His final pages of the essay are spent explaining and discussing post-liberalism.
Post-liberalism rejects many aspects of classical liberalism. It has come about because of the polarisation of sections of society. People are anxious, they have declining trust in institutions, public debate has become fractured with deep tensions running through many discussions. There is a temptation to replace complexities with easy certainties.
Post-liberalism is divided into two tribes, Conservative post-liberalism and left-wing or progressive post-liberalism. The previous are not fans of unvetted individualism and free market forces. They have greater emphasis on tradition and national identity. The latter is concerned about insecure work, inequality, large corporations and economic distribution.
Waleed Ali concludes tentatively by saying,”. . . amid all the folly and fury, and even amid the mayhem and monsters, we’re seeing . . . some talking about common good and the health of society.” He finishes with “And I fear that if liberalism cannot renew its offering, the monsters might truly be unleased.”
“Time of Monsters” is both challenging to physically read, and challenging in the commentary it offers the reader. Aly has written a carefully constructed argument about liberalism and the challenges it faces.
If you think the heading signals an essay on an Australian political party or on those evil incarnates found in the US then you might benefit by reading a few authors that Aly mentions, Hobbes, Locke, Mills, Rawls, Keynes, Marx, Smith, Hayek and Friedman.
In the opening paragraphs Aly explains the meaning of the heading Time of Monsters. The quote is attributed to one of my favourite political philosophers, Antonio Gramsci. Aly quickly explains that it is not a direct quote from the philosopher and Gramsci’s original quote did not mention monsters. “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born now is the time of monsters” Gramsci’s real words were, “In this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” Not so literary clever. My interpretation is that liberalism has reigned in the recent past for much of the English-speaking world but we now have instability, and different forces (monsters) are now rising to challenge traditional liberalism.
If I could go off on a tangent for a short distance. I was greatly influenced by sociologist R.W. Connell and her text “Ruling Class, Ruling Culture, Studies of Conflict, Power and Hegemony in Australian Life.” It was though her work that I discovered the writing of Antonio Gramsci. Back to Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, where he explains how a ruling class maintains power not through force or violence, but through the voluntary consent of the people. The “common sense” of the ruling class happened to coincide with the beliefs of the wealthy. In Australia today we have Pauline Hanson and One Nation promoting a ’common sense’ approach She constructs a strict, binary division: the morally pure, ordinary Australian people versus the corrupt, out-of-touch political and media elite. Hanson is one of the monsters.
Those with a limited background in liberal philosophy and political science may find the early discussion demanding and complex. I would stay with the essay as Aly starts to apply the principles discussed into the real world of the recent past and today.
Liberalism had its roots in seventeenth century and ‘liberal’ governments started to take office in the late eighteenth century. Liberalism is a political and economic doctrine with guidelines emphasizing individual autonomy, equal opportunity and rights (life, liberty and property.) The doctrine evolved over the centuries where economics played an increasing role. It was Adam Smith who brought in the importance of the market. Liberalism objected to hierarchy in relation to individuals but not necessarily to groups. I have always thought that the most beneficial outcome of liberalism was representative democracy.
Aly argues that for much of the recent history of Liberalism managed to deal with the tensions within liberalism. Conservatives within the church of liberalism could be innovative in economics but reactionary in cultural issues (multiculturalism, role of women, environmental issues, specifically climate change, sexual identity, race.) In the early 1980s the “Washington consensus” (deregulation, privatisation, free trade, stifling trade unions) became the mantra of Reagan, Thatcher, Howard and subsequent governments. Aly argued that the liberalism of the time saw continued growth and prosperity as the key to the continued success of the system.
The growth of social media affected liberalism. Ali writes that the broader community was being siloed into like minded groups, the algorithms was sorting us.
In the last chapters Aly starts to use the terms ‘woke politics’ and ‘post-liberalism.’ I find the term ‘woke’ as purely a term of abuse aimed at people with progressive views. I think he cheapens himself and his writing by using this term.
His final pages of the essay are spent explaining and discussing post-liberalism.
Post-liberalism rejects many aspects of classical liberalism. It has come about because of the polarisation of sections of society. People are anxious, they have declining trust in institutions, public debate has become fractured with deep tensions running through many discussions. There is a temptation to replace complexities with easy certainties.
Post-liberalism is divided into two tribes, Conservative post-liberalism and left-wing or progressive post-liberalism. The previous are not fans of unvetted individualism and free market forces. They have greater emphasis on tradition and national identity. The latter is concerned about insecure work, inequality, large corporations and economic distribution.
Waleed Ali concludes tentatively by saying,”. . . amid all the folly and fury, and even amid the mayhem and monsters, we’re seeing . . . some talking about common good and the health of society.” He finishes with “And I fear that if liberalism cannot renew its offering, the monsters might truly be unleased.”
“Time of Monsters” is both challenging to physically read, and challenging in the commentary it offers the reader. Aly has written a carefully constructed argument about liberalism and the challenges it faces.
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October 6, 2026Some thoughts:
- I am not enjoying living in history
- we should teach philosophy in schools
- we should *really* teach philosophy in law schools
- does Geelong half-forward Gryan Miers know he is subject to a ruthless drive-by just over halfway through this essay?
- this put language and structure to many disparate thoughts I’ve had over the last few years in a manner I found compelling and convincing. It makes me want to think more
- I can imagine a companion/sequel essay about illiberal societies that I would very much be interested in reading
- I am not enjoying living in history
- we should teach philosophy in schools
- we should *really* teach philosophy in law schools
- does Geelong half-forward Gryan Miers know he is subject to a ruthless drive-by just over halfway through this essay?
- this put language and structure to many disparate thoughts I’ve had over the last few years in a manner I found compelling and convincing. It makes me want to think more
- I can imagine a companion/sequel essay about illiberal societies that I would very much be interested in reading
September 18, 2026
Superb analysis of Australian society today and why we are all disgruntled.
October 5, 2026
Writing is excellent so far. Arguably not what I expected, in that while it touches on post-liberal theory on both the left and right sides of the spectrum, a lot of it has been on the history of liberalism in of itself (Hobbes, Locke, neoliberalism, etc.) But still solid all around."
I can usually count on Waleed Aly to deliver insightful writing, and this was no exception. Not perfect, but solid.
Aly dives into post-liberal theory on both the left and right sides of the spectrum, and it's a lot of stuff I found myself agreeing with, even if I haven't always had the means of expressing it. The post-liberal right is easy to identify, where people have expressly labelled themselves as "post liberal" (e.g. J.D. Vance) or have sold their systems as "illiberal democracy" (e.g. Orban), which I'd argue is a much more pressing issue than "fascism" (a term that's overused at this point). On the other end, Aly dives into the post-liberal left - what's been called the "woke" left (a term that's been robbed of any and all meaning at this point), and while Aly expresses his disdain for the term, he does adroitly examine what could be called "post-liberal leftism" or "illiberal leftism."
Aly also delves into the history of liberalism as an idea (Rossu, Locke, Mill, etc.), its triumphs, and its failings. In this, I felt slightly let down, because while the history of liberalism is interesting in of itself, I was more interested in what liberalism's crisis means for the 21st century, and Aly has no real answers to give. Not that answers are owed, but I will say that I'm not as blase about liberalism's future. He may be right in that it would require something truly momentous to overturn liberalism as the current socio-economic model, but I'd say that's already happening in many parts of the world.
Still, solid job.
I can usually count on Waleed Aly to deliver insightful writing, and this was no exception. Not perfect, but solid.
Aly dives into post-liberal theory on both the left and right sides of the spectrum, and it's a lot of stuff I found myself agreeing with, even if I haven't always had the means of expressing it. The post-liberal right is easy to identify, where people have expressly labelled themselves as "post liberal" (e.g. J.D. Vance) or have sold their systems as "illiberal democracy" (e.g. Orban), which I'd argue is a much more pressing issue than "fascism" (a term that's overused at this point). On the other end, Aly dives into the post-liberal left - what's been called the "woke" left (a term that's been robbed of any and all meaning at this point), and while Aly expresses his disdain for the term, he does adroitly examine what could be called "post-liberal leftism" or "illiberal leftism."
Aly also delves into the history of liberalism as an idea (Rossu, Locke, Mill, etc.), its triumphs, and its failings. In this, I felt slightly let down, because while the history of liberalism is interesting in of itself, I was more interested in what liberalism's crisis means for the 21st century, and Aly has no real answers to give. Not that answers are owed, but I will say that I'm not as blase about liberalism's future. He may be right in that it would require something truly momentous to overturn liberalism as the current socio-economic model, but I'd say that's already happening in many parts of the world.
Still, solid job.
October 25, 2026
I enjoy Waleed Aly's insightful analysis in the Age and other publications, so I bought this hoping that the essay would help me to make sense of what is happening in public life around the world. His thesis is that liberalism is not working and is breaking down, evidenced by post liberal ideas on both the right and the left. His hope is that it will be replaced by something that better administers to the common good and enmeshes a greater sense of social duty. His fear is that it will not - if liberalism can't renew its offering, "the monsters will be unleashed", he warns. There is a lot of philosophical history in this essay, and few answers. I left unsatisfied. I wonder how much of what we are experiencing is down to the incompetence and poor decision making of successive governments around the world, rather than the system within which they operate.
October 24, 2026
Waleed Aly cleary thinks deeply about the world, the manner of change, and its effects on Australia. I found his tour through various philosophers to be illuminating and thought-provoking. While not necessarily optimistic, he has provided his readers with much to consider. It was not an easy read but worth persistence.
October 27, 2026
Well researched, thought out and written, Waleed Aly’s latest Quarterly Essay is a real deep dive into the machinations of liberal thought.
It’s a topic I’m interested in, but Aly’s language at times is so heightened and academic that it made for very challenging reading.
It’s a topic I’m interested in, but Aly’s language at times is so heightened and academic that it made for very challenging reading.
September 25, 2026
Now that's what I call a quarterly essay.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews