“Civil society” became a catchword for the democratic dissidents of East-Central Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. For them, the creation of a vibrant sphere of voluntary associations outside of state structures represented both the most practical and attractive democratic …
During a recent trip to Sweden, I sat through the opening of the new session of Parliament. As I waited along with several hundred other people for King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia to arrive, I was struck by how …
Andrew Ross says that “the left is temporarily enjoying its first real foothold within the North American academy.” That claim reminds me of E.P. Thompson’s remark that the Althusserians thought themselves “the first white Marxists” to arrive on British soil. …
Although it cannot compare with the collapse of the theory and practice of Marxian socialism in intellectual interest or geopolitical significance, the current revival of interest in the life and work of John Dewey is an astonishing phenomenon. It is …
In his essay “Intellectuals in Politics,” Richard Rorty gives us his thumbnail sketch of the history of democracy in the United States. In the beginning were the Founding Fathers, fearful of mob rule. In the interim were the spread of …
Ukraine recently stopped supplying food to the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia. Krasnoyarsk Atomgrad, which has an underground store for radioactive waste, responded by refusing to take spent nuclear fuel from Ukraine. New Tallin port, newly completed to serve the whole …
One balmy spring evening I am honored to give the Diana Vreeland Lecture at the Institute of Cultural Significance in San Francisco. Here is a chance, I think, to discuss a new kind of socially oriented African-American feature movie. Yet …
Whatever the ultimate outcome of the 1992 presidential campaign, the terrain on which the campaign is being conducted differs greatly from that of any recent election—and in ways that should favor the Democrats. This first post–cold war election takes place …
Is the ugly German making a comeback only two years after unification? So it seems, at least from the almost daily reports of brutal mob attacks, arson, and beatings of foreigners in both parts of recently unified Germany. These assaults …
The responsibility of intellectuals includes not only “a ruthless criticism of all things existing” (Marx), which is what most people on the left are usually occupied with, but also the imagination of alternatives. Not many writers have made lasting contributions …
The disintegration of the Soviet Union stemmed largely from the long decline of its economy. This decline undermined the role of the Communist party, which had been the central force in the country’s political and economic structures. The legitimacy of …
Can we speak of a historical phenomenon called Stalinism? One is tempted to a brusque riposte: the answer is self-evident to millions of its victims. But this would avoid the issue raised by the question, which is whether the Stalinshchina …
The crisis in Algeria is still evolving as I write, but one thing is already clear: the army’s suppression of democracy in the name of democracy has posed the gravest dilemma for the human rights movement in the Arab world …
September 14. The children are especially studious the first week. It’s even true of us teachers. We look more professional in September. We imagine every fall that this time we’re going to get it right. We start off with fresh …
In July of last year, I received a phone call from a television producer who was interested in doing a program on the idea of an American monument to Desert Storm. Somewhere in Washington somebody was thinking of commissioning just …
