Guillaume A.W. Attia
@gawattia.bsky.social
Intellectual history (Enlightenment natural law theory in France and Scotland), and the political theory of liberalism. U.B.C'24
Latest article for @liberalcurrents.com
is a review of @ztameez.bsky.social’s Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation (Holt, 2025), with some references to Sean M. Kelley’s American Slavers (Yale, 2024). www.liberalcurrents.com/the-american...
is a review of @ztameez.bsky.social’s Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation (Holt, 2025), with some references to Sean M. Kelley’s American Slavers (Yale, 2024). www.liberalcurrents.com/the-american...
The American Conscience
Charles Sumner’s fight for equality.
www.liberalcurrents.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Latest article for @liberalcurrents.com
is a review of @ztameez.bsky.social’s Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation (Holt, 2025), with some references to Sean M. Kelley’s American Slavers (Yale, 2024). www.liberalcurrents.com/the-american...
is a review of @ztameez.bsky.social’s Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation (Holt, 2025), with some references to Sean M. Kelley’s American Slavers (Yale, 2024). www.liberalcurrents.com/the-american...
New article for @liberalcurrents.com on WW1 and the liberalism of fear: As I note, “it was President Woodrow Wilson, not Adolf Hitler, who first condemned foreign-born residents for pouring "the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries" of American life.” www.liberalcurrents.com/the-politics...
The Politics of Fear in American History
The precedents for the violence and overt use of state power we are now experiencing can be found in the 1910s and 1920s rather than the 1930s and 1940s.
www.liberalcurrents.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
New article for @liberalcurrents.com on WW1 and the liberalism of fear: As I note, “it was President Woodrow Wilson, not Adolf Hitler, who first condemned foreign-born residents for pouring "the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries" of American life.” www.liberalcurrents.com/the-politics...
“It’s as good a time as any to remember that free speech is the enemy of the authoritarian. And a government that says you can’t call it authoritarian is most certainly authoritarian.” (See: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...)
Opinion | Free speech includes the right to call political opponents 'fascists'
Top Trump officials say heated political rhetoric is illegal “incitement.” They're wrong — it’s free speech.
www.msnbc.com
October 4, 2025 at 3:16 AM
“It’s as good a time as any to remember that free speech is the enemy of the authoritarian. And a government that says you can’t call it authoritarian is most certainly authoritarian.” (See: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...)
Historically not the case, though. From the moment of Puritan settlement, local community has always been the main site of repression and the one whose influence has been felt more permanently than ‘the state’. You are right, though, that the state’s threat is special in its ability to shock/awe.
I really wish so many hadn't lost sight of the fact that the biggest potential threat to speech is the state.
September 18, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Historically not the case, though. From the moment of Puritan settlement, local community has always been the main site of repression and the one whose influence has been felt more permanently than ‘the state’. You are right, though, that the state’s threat is special in its ability to shock/awe.
Free speech principles allow for the expression of highly wounding and distasteful ideas. Corporations are understandably more stringent due to reputational damage, but i generally encourage non-state entities to refrain where possible from yielding to social pressure. A shame.
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Free speech principles allow for the expression of highly wounding and distasteful ideas. Corporations are understandably more stringent due to reputational damage, but i generally encourage non-state entities to refrain where possible from yielding to social pressure. A shame.
People posting on social media like politics is the supreme end of life. It is not, and was never meant to be. What transpired in the U.S. today was simply terrible and must first and foremost be seen as a human disaster before it is even interpreted as a political crisis.
September 11, 2025 at 12:48 AM
People posting on social media like politics is the supreme end of life. It is not, and was never meant to be. What transpired in the U.S. today was simply terrible and must first and foremost be seen as a human disaster before it is even interpreted as a political crisis.
The dissident right is more extreme and openly racist than the far-right: “If you mention Nigel Farage or the Reform party here, you get curled-up faces — far too moderate. It’s close to what might have been called the “alt-right”, but that term feels a bit passé.”
August 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The dissident right is more extreme and openly racist than the far-right: “If you mention Nigel Farage or the Reform party here, you get curled-up faces — far too moderate. It’s close to what might have been called the “alt-right”, but that term feels a bit passé.”
The racist factions of X are celebrating the growing popularity of the provocateur Nick Fuentes. Such figures are likely to increase their influence in an illiterate digital age, but due to their lack of proper schooling, will have no impact on the world of ideas.
August 27, 2025 at 2:47 AM
The racist factions of X are celebrating the growing popularity of the provocateur Nick Fuentes. Such figures are likely to increase their influence in an illiterate digital age, but due to their lack of proper schooling, will have no impact on the world of ideas.
Reposted by Guillaume A.W. Attia
Author Julia Gaffield interviews with @liberalcurrents.com
Dessalines: A Maligned Hero Gets His Due
Dessalines was a man of action more than ideas, but his actions helped bring revolutionary ideas into existence, along with a wide range of revolutionary thought around the world, inspired by Haiti’s example.
www.liberalcurrents.com
August 16, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Author Julia Gaffield interviews with @liberalcurrents.com
Reposted by Guillaume A.W. Attia
New About section just dropped. Slightly more in line with the current tone of our work.
August 5, 2025 at 1:42 AM
New About section just dropped. Slightly more in line with the current tone of our work.
It is easier to hate people at a distance. As politicians stopped spending time with each other, it became much easier for them to hate each other. This is now a society-wide moral and spiritual problem as people retreat into their closed online circles.
August 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
It is easier to hate people at a distance. As politicians stopped spending time with each other, it became much easier for them to hate each other. This is now a society-wide moral and spiritual problem as people retreat into their closed online circles.
Valuable overview by @mattpolprof.bsky.social on Yarvin-inspired monarchic politics: the aim is to “end democracy and establish a state that is "small" in terms of regulating entrepreneurs' activity but very strong and heavy handed in imposing law and order.”
The Modern Far Right Canon
Modern far right thinkers style themselves as an insurgent movement against power, combining a self-pitying victimhood with exaggerated fantasies of rediscovered manliness.
www.liberalcurrents.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Valuable overview by @mattpolprof.bsky.social on Yarvin-inspired monarchic politics: the aim is to “end democracy and establish a state that is "small" in terms of regulating entrepreneurs' activity but very strong and heavy handed in imposing law and order.”
Currently reading… @ztameez.bsky.social
July 8, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Currently reading… @ztameez.bsky.social
Had the opportunity to discuss the idea of equality from Plato to Abraham Lincoln. Many thanks to @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com for the excellent edits.
Neon Liberalism #33: Join Samantha and guest Guillaume Attia as they discuss the contrast between America as a nation and America as an idea, the philosophical foundations of liberal politics, and the long—and messy—arc of American history. www.liberalcurrents.com/neonliberali...
Neon Liberalism #33: What Is America?
According to Vice President Vance, America is not an idea: America is a nation. A people. And there are some here who don't belong. Join Samantha and guest Guillaume Attia as they discuss the contrast...
www.liberalcurrents.com
July 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Had the opportunity to discuss the idea of equality from Plato to Abraham Lincoln. Many thanks to @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com for the excellent edits.
The weekend reads
July 5, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The weekend reads
Greg Grandin on the racial idea of the nation, based on his most recent book: “Ours is the government of the white man,” Calhoun said. And there were too many Mexicans to make slaves. Congress limited itself to taking just Mexico’s less densely populated northern half.”
Opinion | Trump Is Waging War on His Own Citizens
www.nytimes.com
July 5, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Greg Grandin on the racial idea of the nation, based on his most recent book: “Ours is the government of the white man,” Calhoun said. And there were too many Mexicans to make slaves. Congress limited itself to taking just Mexico’s less densely populated northern half.”
A place of paradox. As @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com notes “the very same people who participated in the worst of our history also had large hands in the best of it. Slave owners like Jefferson articulated an egalitarian ideal that would be taken up by abolitionists and civil rights activists.”
Opinion | It's Independence Day — and America has a would-be king
Trump sees himself as a king, and so does his party — and they're spending billions on detention camps.
www.msnbc.com
July 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
A place of paradox. As @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com notes “the very same people who participated in the worst of our history also had large hands in the best of it. Slave owners like Jefferson articulated an egalitarian ideal that would be taken up by abolitionists and civil rights activists.”
Immigration controls can quickly become a due process problem: “The more determined governments are to control immigration, the more they will have to abandon due process and act as if the corruption of the rule of law were justified. Or turn a blind eye to the misuse of power by its agents.”
Opinion | Trump’s Deportation Program Is About Control. Even if You Are a U.S. Citizen.
www.nytimes.com
July 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Immigration controls can quickly become a due process problem: “The more determined governments are to control immigration, the more they will have to abandon due process and act as if the corruption of the rule of law were justified. Or turn a blind eye to the misuse of power by its agents.”
Look at NC. No wonder senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, criticised the bill. His constituents will suffer: “It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,” he said.
July 1, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Look at NC. No wonder senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, criticised the bill. His constituents will suffer: “It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,” he said.
As @annielowrey.bsky.social points out, a healthcare cut of $1.1tn means 12m Americans will likely lose health coverage, including 1.38m poor Americans, boosting the overall death toll to 50K a year. That looks ugly, rather than beautiful.
July 1, 2025 at 9:26 PM
As @annielowrey.bsky.social points out, a healthcare cut of $1.1tn means 12m Americans will likely lose health coverage, including 1.38m poor Americans, boosting the overall death toll to 50K a year. That looks ugly, rather than beautiful.
In The Sum of Our Dreams, a small but essential survey of American history by historian Louis Masur, readers are able to clearly see and appreciate the fact that American prosperity is sustained by the exertions of those who still dare to dream of a better future for themselves and their communities
June 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
In The Sum of Our Dreams, a small but essential survey of American history by historian Louis Masur, readers are able to clearly see and appreciate the fact that American prosperity is sustained by the exertions of those who still dare to dream of a better future for themselves and their communities
Henry Clay is called “the great compromiser” and Abraham Lincoln the “great emancipator”. I like to think of Thomas Jefferson as the “great derailer”.
The Fixed Theme of American History
The history of America is a long struggle between the drive for domination and the dream of freedom.
www.liberalcurrents.com
June 30, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Henry Clay is called “the great compromiser” and Abraham Lincoln the “great emancipator”. I like to think of Thomas Jefferson as the “great derailer”.
Reposted by Guillaume A.W. Attia
"What Bannon here describes as a stable ‘social structure’ undergirded by the grunt work of those who keep society functioning properly is in fact a liberal system of government, erected on the basis of foundational liberal ideas" www.liberalcurrents.com/the-fixed-th...
The Fixed Theme of American History
The history of America is a long struggle between the drive for domination and the dream of freedom.
www.liberalcurrents.com
June 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM
"What Bannon here describes as a stable ‘social structure’ undergirded by the grunt work of those who keep society functioning properly is in fact a liberal system of government, erected on the basis of foundational liberal ideas" www.liberalcurrents.com/the-fixed-th...
See Kevin Schultz’s new book on why people hate liberals. These days a liberal is someone who is seen as too ‘moderate’, ‘centrist’, or even too ‘conservative’, to be useful to a radical cause.
June 27, 2025 at 3:52 AM
See Kevin Schultz’s new book on why people hate liberals. These days a liberal is someone who is seen as too ‘moderate’, ‘centrist’, or even too ‘conservative’, to be useful to a radical cause.
When in 1932 FDR accepted the nomination for president, he declared the Democratic Party “the bearer of liberalism”. The question is whether the current party has any interest in maintaining that identity.
FDR united Democrats under the banner of ‘liberalism’ − but today’s Democratic Party has nothing to put on its hat
Republicans have a leader, Donald Trump; a banner, MAGA; and a song, ‘God Bless the USA.’ Democrats have nothing like this.
theconversation.com
June 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
When in 1932 FDR accepted the nomination for president, he declared the Democratic Party “the bearer of liberalism”. The question is whether the current party has any interest in maintaining that identity.