Freedom is the value of values.
Freedom is about what you can do, not what you can't. It is 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 among them, to be with others, and to 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
Twenty practical lessons for defending democracy based on historical insights. Reflecting on 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
Professor Snyder explores how freedom is widely misunderstood in American discourse. He advocates for a richer concept grounded in sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, and solidarity.
(July 2023 - 48 mins)
Professor Snyder describes freedom not as a list of prohibitions, but as something people build together. He argues that true freedom requires key conditions that allow individuals to achieve their goals, emphasizing healthcare as essential for the physical and mental capacity to fully participate in democratic society.
(October 2024 - 48 mins)
Professor Snyder presents a 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, also making a strong case history, literature, philosophy, and the arts.
(November 2023 - 1 hr)
Professor Snyder defines freedom as the capacity to choose our values and navigate possible futures. He explores five foundational conditions—sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, and solidarity—as alternatives to a passive conception of liberty understood simply as the absence of interference.
(October 2023 - 1hr 30 mins)
Books
A set of 20 lessons drawn from twentieth-century history, each showing how individuals can act to safeguard democracy. The book offers practices such as refraining from anticipatory obedience, defending institutions, speaking truth to power, taking responsibility for the face of the world, believing in truth and being as courageous as possible—essential tools to resist authoritarianism.
(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)