Alan Elrod - How Should Liberals Think About Children?

Janet speaks with Alan Elrod to explore how classical liberalism understands the role of children in a free society. They discuss the liberal view of children as future autonomous individuals, the responsibilities of both parents and the state in their development, and how education sits at the center of ongoing ideological battles. Elrod unpacks the liberal commitment to individual flourishing and critiques contemporary efforts to politicize childhood through authoritarian or illiberal frameworks. 

References

“Children Are the Future: Authoritarianism, Culture War and Making Model Citizens” by Alan Elrod https://www.liberalcurrents.com/children-are-the-future-authoritarianism-culture-war-and-making-model-citizens/

“Parents, Government and Children: Authority over Education in the Liberal Pluralist State” by William A. Galston (Chapter in Liberal Pluralism) https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/liberal-pluralism/parents-government-and-children-authority-over-education-in-the-liberal-pluralist-state/4FEF2172B5BD8B088A4D0558C11E1A1B

The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo3619943.html

Democratic Education by Amy Gutmann https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7sdfv

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34901

Taking Responsibility for Children edited by Samantha Brennan and Robert Noggle https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/T/Taking-Responsibility-for-Children

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