A professor at Harvard law school who once taught President Obama, Roberto Unger made waves in 2012 when he posted a video on YouTube explaining why his former pupil did not deserve a second term in office. “[Obama] has spent trillions of dollars to rescue the moneyed interests and left workers and homeowners to their own devices,” he said.
Unger is one of the world’s most wide-ranging public intellectuals. His work encompasses philosophy, religion and economics, as well as political and legal theory. He has also been closely involved with Brazilian politics over the past decade, serving briefly as the minister for strategic affairs (sometimes referred to as “the minister of ideas”). He has been described by the Chronicle of Higher Education as “Brazil’s answer to John Stuart Mill.” His latest book, The Religion of the Future (Harvard University Press, April 2014), calls for a new spiritual revolution.
Further reading:
Interview: Roberto Unger on the means and ends of the political left
The passion of Roberto Unger: A profile of Roberto Unger by Eyal Press
