Liberalism and Critique.

This article analyzes three recent books that explore the complex relationship between liberalism and critique in contemporary political and cultural contexts. Rachel Greenwald Smith's *On Compromise: Art, Politics, and the Fate of an American Ideal* (2021) critiques the idealization of political compromise within neoliberal liberalism, arguing for the necessity of recognizing stark political differences and the generative potential of refusing compromise. Patricia Stuelke's *The Ruse of Repair: US Neoliberal Empire and the Turn from Critique* (2021) examines how reparative cultural and intellectual practices have facilitated accommodation to US neoliberal empire and racial capitalism, often displacing critical engagement with systemic violence. Erica Edwards's *The Other Side of Terror: Black Women and the Culture of US Empire* (2021) investigates the intertwined construction of race and war in the US "long war on terror," focusing on Black women's complex roles within imperial and anti-imperial frameworks. Together, these works highlight the dialectic of liberalism and critique, emphasizing the importance of self-critical reflection in confronting the ideological and material contradictions of contemporary political life.