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Chapter 4 - The End of Ideology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2019

Iain Stewart
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

This chapter focuses on Aron's contribution to ‘end of ideology’ theory. Aron played an important role in reorienting the Congress for Cultural Freedom towards this theme in 1955. But, as this chapter shows, the possibility of a post-ideological politics had interested him since the late 1920s. The chapter thus begins by explaining how and why Aron came to be preoccupied with this theme via his involvement in the overlapping peripheries of neosocialist and neoliberal thinktanks in the interwar years. It then considers how his involvement in these circles informed Aron’s writings on the theme of post-war economic planning in some of his writings in the 1940s. After discussing Aron’s involvement in the ‘end of ideology’ debate within the Congress for Cultural Freedom, the chapter considers the implications of this debate for Aron’s views on decolonization, challenging the view that Aron was the theorist of a ‘liberal retreat from empire’. Finally, it considers how Aron’s dissatisfaction with the end of ideology, together with the emergence of the New Left, led him to become increasingly concerned with the need for a revival of normative political theory in the later 1950s.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • The End of Ideology
  • Iain Stewart, University College London
  • Book: Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
  • Online publication: 18 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695879.005
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  • The End of Ideology
  • Iain Stewart, University College London
  • Book: Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
  • Online publication: 18 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695879.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The End of Ideology
  • Iain Stewart, University College London
  • Book: Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
  • Online publication: 18 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695879.005
Available formats
×