You Tube Theology

Is populism enough? Or is the real crisis deeper – moral, spiritual, civilisational?

In this sweeping and provocative lecture, theologian and political philosopher John Milbank argues that post-liberalism is not a reactionary impulse or a right-wing fad, but a serious and British-born intellectual tradition rooted in the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, John Gray, and religious communitarianism. Milbank critiques both market liberalism and cultural liberalism, showing how they converge into a nihilistic uniparty – a cold, technocratic system with no room for virtue, rootedness, or the common good.

He warns that populism, while understandable, risks becoming merely a tribal reaction to this liberal emptiness – and without deeper metaphysical renewal, could collapse into the same logic it opposes. Drawing on Christian political thought, 20th-century European history, and thinkers from Joseph de Maistre to Karl Marx, Milbank makes the case for a new moral and spiritual foundation for politics – one that can hold together local loyalties with universal meaning.

If you feel the old left–right spectrum is broken, if you’re disillusioned with technocrats and tired of false binaries, this talk will help you think beyond the slogans.

This video is a lecture from The Academy 2025. The subject of the weekend event was "Upheaval: Why politics needs a new language".
You can find out more here: https://ideasmatter.org.uk/upheaval-why-politics-needs-a-new-language

Professor John Milbank is a world-renowned theologian, philosopher, political theorist and developer of the concept of post-liberalism.