Centre for Independent Studies
Centre for Independent Studies
The Centre For Independent Studies
Rebuilding the Open Society | Roger Partridge | Liberalism in Question
40 minutes Posted Nov 18, 2025 at 8:30 am.
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šŸ‘‰ Watch here: https://youtu.be/bGv018CfXg8Ā 
In this episode of Liberalism in Question, we dive into Roger Partridge’s provocative Quillette essay, ā€Classical Liberalism Without Strong Godsā€, where he challenges the rise of ā€strong godsā€ like religion and nationalism as antidotes to liberal society’s spiritual void.
You can read the article here: https://quillette.com/2025/06/10/classical-liberalism-without-strong-gods-open-society-popper/Ā 
As Chairman and co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative, Roger defends Karl Popper’s vision of the open society. He argues that epistemic humility, critical inquiry, and moral seriousness can foster cohesion without authoritarian risks, while proposing fixes like civic education reform, housing deregulation, welfare tweaks to support families, and Ā local autonomy.
Join us as Roger unpacks liberalism’s drift, the threats from identity politics and relativism, and a bold path forward.
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