The global history of liberalism has paid too much attention to the West, neglecting the contributions of liberals from colonial nations. This book mines the thought of Filipino propagandist and novelist, Jose Rizal, to present a vision of liberalism for the colonized. It is both an introduction to Rizal and a treatise on rights, freedom, and tyranny in colonial contexts. Though a work on history, it responds to the illiberal present of rising authoritarianism and populism.

Locates Rizal's novels and other writings within the traditions of continental and pan-Atlantic liberalism Allows us to view liberalism through the eyes of a thinker writing both from the centre and margins of global liberal networks Makes the novel argument that Rizal was a major theorist of global liberalism

Autorentext
Lisandro E. Claudio is Associate Professor at De La Salle University Manila's College of Liberal Arts, Philippines, and teaches courses in History and Literature. He is the author of Liberalism and the Postcolony: Thinking the State in 20th-Century Philippines.

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Creolism and the Liberal Nineteenth Century.- Chapter 2: Pain and the Purification of Liberty.- Chapter 3: Noli Me Tangere and the Failure of Transplanted Liberalism.- Chapter 4: The Solution of the Enigma in El Filibusterismo.- Chapter 5: Conclusion: Resurrecting Plants.