Common Concerns Death of Liberalism: The Exhaustion of Democracy
Mar 19, 2026
Olaf Zenker, an anthropologist working across Southern Africa, Germany and Northern Ireland, explores what happens when liberalism exhausts people who expected justice and change. He discusses land restitution, legalism versus lived expectations, post-liberal fatigue as a global moment, how fragility hardens into politics, and ways scholars can turn exhaustion into public, practical engagement.
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Post Liberalism As A Global Conjuncture
- Post-liberalism describes a global moment where faith in liberal constitutionalism is exhausted, revealing opportunities to ask nuanced political questions.
- Olaf links similar nativist and decolonial critiques across South Africa and Germany as part of this conjuncture.
Fatigue Tied To Broken Temporal Expectations
- Fatigue with liberalism is relational to earlier hopes and temporal expectations about justice and transformation.
- In South Africa people expected rapid redress after apartheid, so delayed implementation turns hope into despair and fuels political alternatives.
Do Co Research And Translate Findings Publicly
- Center research on people's actual concerns and co-produce analysis with them to make findings politically useful.
- Olaf recommends combining ethnography with public interventions like hearings, TV interviews and policy advice.