A compelling philosophical exploration of the concept of universalism and its role—or lack
thereof—in contemporary politics. This accessible study challenges the prioritization of
identity politics over universal equality using Kant as a lens through which to understand our
present moment. Winner of the 2024 Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding The
entire political spectrum of our day from right to left reflects the politics of identity.
The right speaks of blood and soil of homeland the left of gender and race. To the observant
eye the similarity between the holders of the two positions stands out as much as their
animosity. And as to the purported humanism and universalism of the liberal center? It has
shrunk to an empty husk. Far from recognizing and proclaiming a fundamental duty to humanity
contemporary liberalism now chiefly serves to protect the right of the individual citizen to
turn a deaf ear to that call. Omri Boehm's Radical Universalism: Beyond Identity offers new
readings of three controversial texts that have shaped the concept of modern humanism: the
Declaration of Independence Immanuel Kant's "What Is Enlightenment? " and the biblical story
of the Binding of Isaac. Through these texts—"monuments of a tradition that stands near to us
but...in which the moral idea of humanity...was still living"—Boehm grapples with the
ideological failures of the moment while presenting a powerful plea to place humanistic
universalism at the heart of political life.
