Sean Gabb

Dr Sean Gabb (b. 1960, Chatham) is an English libertarian and conservative. He is the director of the Libertarian Alliance, a British free market and civil liberties think-tank.

He joined the Libertarian Alliance in 1979, and became its Director in 2006, shortly before the death of its Founder Chris R. Tame.

Gabb is a controversial figure within the British and indeed the general libertarian movement. He is an extreme cultural reactionary, an institutional conservative, an isolationist in foreign affairs (he is as much anti-American as Eurosceptic), and an advocate of the widest social and economic liberty. He has written in support of the Monarchy and House of Lords, and in defence of the rights of both holocaust deniers and child pornographers.

Many libertarians regard him as a snobbish conservative who has read some economics. Many conservatives believe that his cultural tastes are a cover for an extreme ideological radicalism.

What makes Gabb somewhat more than a fringe eccentric is that he is a very clear and prolific writer. This makes him exceptional in a country where the already small number of other libertarians mostly do not or will not or cannot write. He has almost by default become the voice of British libertarianism.

He rose to prominence within the British libertarian movement during the late 1980s, when his pessimism and emphasis on legal and cultural change made him an oddity among people whose own emphasis was on economics, and who were both personally and ideologically optimistic about the direction of British politics.

From about 1990, he became an increasingly close associate of Chris R. Tame, Founder and Director of the Libertarian Alliance. Though he had written much before their friendship, Tame fell largely silent around this time. Instead of concentrating on his own writing, he fell into the habit of using Gabb as his spokesman. In spite of profound philosophical (Tame, objectivist – Gabb, sceptic) and cultural (Tame, Elvis fan – Gabb, Mozart fan) differences, their relationship was both harmonious and productive. Indeed, Gabb admitted before and after Tame’s death that many of his most notable writings between 1990 and 2006 were joint productions in which it was hard to say who had contributed more.

Even by those who disagree with him, Gabb is admitted to be an effective writer. He is best described as a “late Augustan”. His confessed models are David Hume, Edward Gibbon and T.B Macaulay. This makes him unsuited to blogging and newspaper journalism, but gives him a clarity and balance well suited to the presentation of extended arguments. His style varies between the oratorical in his political writings and the obscene and scatological in his fiction. When provoked – either by others or by some turn of his prejudices, he can display a rare talent for invective.

That he is an effective writer does not automatically mean he is a good writer. That must be left to the judgment of posterity, and this will depend on how much longer he lives and on the cultural fashions of the middle of this century. Gabb’s personality is best described as reserved bordering on the cold. Above his untidy, often shabby clothing, his face is normally blank of emotion. Though capable of very close friendship, he generally looks bored in company or deep in his own thoughts. If anyone asks why the vivacious and relentless networker Tame decided to make Gabb his institutional as well as ideological heir, the answer must be to ask who else was available.

Gabb’s writings can be mostly found on his website: http://www.seangabb.co.uk. A select bibliography of his longer writings is given below.

Partial Bibliography

• The Column of Phocas, The Hampden Press, London, 2006.
• Trusting Brands in Society: The Quality and Value of Modern Medicine, Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, 2005.
• Smoking, Class, and the Legitimation of Power, The Hampden Press, London, 2005.
• From Antitrust to Disaster: An Overview of European Union Competition Policy, Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, 2004.
• The Cost of European Environmental Regulations in the Accession Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, 2004.
• Why Greater Freedom of Patient Information in European Healthcare Could Save Lives and Money, Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, 2004.
• War and the National Interest: Arguments for a British Foreign Policy, The Hampden Press, London, 2004.
• Cultural Revolution, Culture War: The True Battle for Britain, The Hampden Press, London, 2003.
• (With Dennis O'Keeffe) Markets, the Internet, and Morality, The Institute of Economic Affairs, London, 2003.
• Why Trade Barriers between the European Union and the Developing World Should be Lowered, Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, 2003.
• Dispatches from a Dying Country: Reflections on Modern England, The Hampden Press, London, 2001.
• (With Dennis O'Keeffe and Pat Stoll (eds)) Issues in School Attendance and Truancy, Pitman Press, London, 1995.
• (With Dennis O'Keeffe) The Report of the North London Truancy Unit, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1994.

External links

• Sean Gabb's website