Freedom is the value of values.
While frequently misunderstood and misused, freedom is about what you can do, not what you can't. It's not about the barriers; it's about the possibilities.
Freedom means the ability to imagine and navigate among possible futures, to see alternatives and choose some of them, to be with others and bring something to them. There is no such thing as a free country; there are only free people. We have to have our own set of values, our own way of being in the world. No one can be free alone.
A free society is one in which we work together to build institutions that allow us to become our eccentric, interesting, unpredictable, forward-looking selves.
Articles & Essays
In These Times, November 2016
Historical insights into twenty practical lessons for defending democracy in light of Trump's (first) electoral victory. Professor Snyder emphasizes civic responsibility, institutional resilience, factual integrity, and ethical action. Originally published as a viral post, this was later expanded into the book On Tyranny.
Videos
In this podcast, Professor Snyder explores how freedom is widely misunderstood in American discourse. He advocates for a richer concept grounded in civic values such as solidarity, factuality, and democratic agency.
(July 2023 - 48 mins)
Professor Snyder explains that access to healthcare is essential to democratic freedom. Health enables participation, responsibility, and resilience in democratic life. As well as the philosophical distinction between “freedom from” (negative liberty) and “freedom to” (positive liberty), he agues that real freedom requires the presence of enabling conditions—not just the absence of constraint.
(October 2024 - 48 mins)
From Chicago, Professor Snyder presents a civic theory of freedom grounded in five core practices: sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, and solidarity. He frames freedom as a generative force requiring critical thinking, institutional resilience, and shared democratic effort.
(November 2023 - 1 hr)
Professor Snyder defines freedom as the capacity to choose among values and realize futures. He explores five foundational aspects—sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, and solidarity—as alternatives to passive or negative liberty.
(October 2023 - 1hr 30 mins)
Books
A set of 20 lessons based on twentieth-century history, each highlighting actions individuals can take to uphold democratic norms. The book emphasizes practices such as defending institutions, maintaining factual discourse, participating in public life, and preserving independent language as ways to counter authoritarian tendencies.
(Published 2025)
A philosophical exploration of freedom as a developmental force, this book redefines freedom as “freedom to” and outlines five core freedoms—sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, and solidarity. It argues that real democratic freedom depends on active collective practices.
(Published 2023)