Liberty as Independence: Disha Karnad Jani Interviews Quentin Skinner

In Theory: The JHI Blog Podcast

Disha Karnad Jani interviews Quentin Skinner on his new book Liberty as Independence: The Making and Unmaking of a Political Ideal (Cambridge University Press, 2025). In this book, Skinner traces how liberty as a political ideal became tied to independence and the absence of coercion through the political upheavals of early modern England, debates about absolute monarchy, the American Revolution, discussions of women's independence under the law, and the role of slavery in defining what it meant to be free.