Christopher Lasch, Existentialism and the Left
The emergence of the New Left in the 1930s and 1940s marked the first significant challenge to the assumed consensus of modern liberalism.The New Left, a groundbreaking and eclectic movement, was characterized by its revolutionary aims and subtle re-examination of some mainstream liberal principles and narratives.
At the heart of this challenge and critique of liberalism was a rejection of its focus on individualism and separate and opposed identities. Influenced by the rise of Existentialist philosophy, the New Left argued that human existence was best understood by its embeddedness, and the inter-relatedness of all its components.
One prominent intellectual to take up this challenge and assessment of modern liberalism was Christopher Lasch, a leading figure in the American cultural and political left in the second half of the twentieth century.
Laschs most important contribution to this critique of liberalism was his insistence that liberal conceptions of justice, rights, and freedoms were too heavily weighted toward individualistic prerogatives. Lasch argued that, beyond merely privileging individual rights over collective interests, liberal conceptions of justice and equality promoted a negative, and largely false, perception of human relations by advocating a false separation of individuals and rationalizing a winner-take-all form of social relations.
In his book, The Culture of Narcissism,” Lasch argued that a culture in which individual rights were seen as the supreme priority were ultimately damaging, leading to personal disengagement from collective action, from the political process, and from society in general.
Lasch argued that a genuine understanding of justice could only be achieved if it was issued from a recognition that individuals and communities were indivisible, and that forming genuine social and political relationships demanded a mutual recognition of each sides interests and needs.
Laschs challenge to liberalism took on an increasingly public reach during the 1970s, as the legacy of the New Left and the influence of Existentialism began to give way to new political currents, such as identity politics and the emergent postmodernism.
In The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy,” and a number of other writings, Lasch revived the New Left and Existentialist critique of liberal individualism, claiming that this emphasis on individual rights was preventing the development of cultural solidarities and social relationships that were necessary for democracy to take root.
Steeped in concepts of alienation and embedded within questions of solidarity and collectivity, Laschs writings illuminated an alternative to liberal individualism. Indeed, Lasch argued that a genuine spirit of justice had to include an understanding of how individuals were inextricably connected to their communities, and that any conception of justice that was about the well-being of the whole rather than the exclusive privileging of individuals was necessarily progressive.
Throughout his writings, Lasch offered provocative insights into this alternative conception of justice. He argued that the pervasiveness of liberal individualism was leading to a range of negative consequences, from increased levels of social isolation, to the concentration of power in the hands of a few, to the erosion of traditional democratic institutions.
In particular, Laschs searing analysis of the root causes of inequality exposed the weaknesses of contemporary liberalism, as it emphasized freedom and choice over the need for concerted collective action. In short, Laschs critique of liberal individualism posed an important challenge to some of its most deeply-held assumptions.
Yet it was ultimately Laschs rejection of the radical notion of human atomization that is perhaps his most enduring contribution to contemporary debates. At a time when individualism and separatism dominate public discourse, Laschs insistence that justice and true freedom could only be achieved through a mutual recognition of our shared social and political roles and responsibilities continues to resonate.
