On December 13 (Monday) at 4.00 PM CET the Institute of Sociology, Collegium Civitas organizes an online lecture by Professor Eric Kurlander from Stetson University. The seminar will be devoted to his research on the Role of “Political Romanticism” in Explaining the Crisis of 21st Century Democracy.

Prof. Kurlander is a renowned American historian, at Stetson he teaches courses on modern German, European and world history. The Professor is visiting Collegium Civitas under the Fulbright Global Scholar program.

“Lessons from Weimar? The Role of “Political Romanticism” in Explaining the Crisis of 21st Century Democracy “

The crisis of 21st Century democracy, like Weimar one hundred years ago, is at least partially the function of a similar commitment to “political romanticism” among a subset of the voting population. For our purposes, “political romanticism” includes five overlapping attitudinal constructs: 1) a belief in the paranormal and the occult; 2) border or fringe scientific doctrines; 3) and conspiracism. These ideas, individually or combined, are a precondition for the rise of fascism: first by decentering the epistemic commitment to liberal proceduralism, the rules of the game or guard rails necessary for a functioning democratic polity; and second by providing a bridge to the form and content of rightwing populism and authoritarianism that characterizes fascism.

We cordially invite you to register for the webinar:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-W4K1NCWRuaXo8ntGU9cuA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.