New Research: Beyond Liberty: A Republican Perspective on COVID-19 Restriction and the Politics of Freedom

I am very happy to have contributed to this excellent volume on the inequalities produced or exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

My chapter examines the widespread argument that public health regulations, such as lockdowns, diminished liberty. It is shown to be a a rather puerile argument based on a simplistic understanding of political freedom. However, that doesn’t mean that the pandemic didn’t undermine liberty, but this came from the acquisition of arbitrary power by states.