Departmental Seminar - Dictators and Intellectuals: Political Hero Worship in Our Times

Type: 
Departmental Seminar
Audience: 
CEU Community Only
Building: 
Nador u. 9, Monument Building
Room: 
Gellner Room
Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 1:30pm
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Date: 
Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 1:30pm to 3:10pm

The Department of Political Science cordially invite you to the departmental seminar

Dictators and Intellectuals: Political Hero Worship in Our Times

presented by

Paul Hollander
Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts

Date: 25th September, 2014 – 13.30

Venue: CEU Nador u. 9, Monument Building, Gellner Room

Abstract: Numerous 20th century intellectuals were attracted to dictators ranging from Mussolini to Castro and others even in the 21st century. Why were they prone to this type of hero worship? Was itt he personality of dictators or the political system they symbolized? What did the dictators admired have in common? What social-cultural conditions help to explain the phenomenon?

Paul Hollander is Professor Emeritus at University of Massachusetts. His research expertise includes communist systems, political attutudes of intellectuals, anti-Americanism as well as romantic love and modernity. His books include Soviet and American Society: A Comparison (1973), Political Pilgrims (1981), The Many Faces of Socialism (1983), The Survival of the Adversary Culture (1988), Decline and Discontent (1992), Anti-Americanism: Critiques at Home and Abroad (1992), Political Will and Personal Belief: The Decline and Fall of Soviet Communism,(1999), Discontents: Postmodern and Postcommunist (2002), The End of Commitment (2006), The Only Super Power (2009), Extravagant Expectations (2011).