Heads of section: Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, Wesleyan University and Ferenc Laczó, Maastricht University
This section covers new research in intellectual history and discusses the history of ideas that shape contemporary debates on democracy. Recent and ongoing focal points within the section include global intellectual history; the relationship between democracy, liberalism, and populism; memory and inclusivity, and contemporary European history.

Fantasy and Trauma: Dan Stone on Writing the History of the Holocaust
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Dan Stone – author of the new book The Holocaust: An Unfinished History – discusses various ways the history of the Holocaust has been misunderstood; addresses the challenges of narrating the Holocaust and clarifies his own interpretative framework; sketches the European dimension of the genocide and how…

Taming the Anthropocene: Zoltán Boldizsár Simon and Lars Deile on a New Era of Historical Understanding
In this conversation, our guest contributor Alexandra Medzibrodszky talks with Zoltán Boldizsár Simon and Lars Deile, the co-editors of the recently published volume “Historical Understanding: Past, Present, and Future” (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022). The conversation focuses on the theory of history, reflecting on our changing perceptions of historical time; the relationship between the past, present, and future; the…

Dictionary of Received Ideas (About Fascism)
Engaging with the difficult task of deconstructing firmly rooted myths, Corner’s main goal is to answer two questions: (1) How far does the affirmation of “many good things” done by Fascism corresponds to the historical reality?; and (2) Why do so many people today share a “permissive memory” of Fascism?

Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover and the American Century
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Beverly Gage – author of the new biography “G-Man. J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century” – discusses how Hoover built and shaped the FBI and what made him enjoy such an exceptional and long-lasting career; dissects his contradictions, reflecting on the sources of…

5 Key 2022 Books: Ideas
Ferenc Laczó, editor of the History of Ideas section at the Review of Democracy, presents five key Ideas books in 2022.

Westernization by Preemptive Rejection: How Viktor Orbán Sells to U.S. Conservatives Their Own Obsessions
In this op-ed, Ferenc Laczó explores how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regime “has been succeeding to a remarkable degree at translating key aspects of Hungarian ethnic nationalism into a wider panic about the future of Western civilization.”

How the Necessary Cold War Ended – and Why an Unnecessary One Followed It: Archie Brown on the Political and the Personal in the Relationship Between the West and the Soviet Union/Russia
In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Iker Itoiz Ciáurriz, Archie Brown – author of the recently released book “The Human Factor. Gorbachev, Reagan, and Thatcher, and the End of the Cold War” – explains why he approaches the end of the Cold War through the study of political leaders; explores the different personal formations…

Emancipating Jews from Narratives of Victimhood and Redemption: Susan Neiman Discusses Germany’s Current Memory Culture
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Susan Neiman dissects what has made the articulation of universalistic Jewish commitments increasingly difficult in the German public sphere; explores why debates concerning global colonialism and the Nazi-colonial connection tend to be so fraught in the country; explains what post-colonial criticisms misunderstand about the intellectual heritage of…

How 2000 people made an impact at a time when society was silent: András Bozóki on the rolling transition of Hungary
In this discussion, RevDem Managing Editor Michał Matlak discusses with András Bozóki about his last book, “Rolling Transition and the Role of Intellectuals: Case of Hungary”, published this year by Central European University Press, which tells a compelling story of the role of intellectuals in political and social change that took place in Hungary between…

Liberalism Hasn’t Provided Adequate Answers to Today’s Major Crises: Luke Savage on Contemporary Liberalism and Its Democratic Socialist Critique
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Luke Savage – author of “The Dead Center. Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History” – discusses key aspects of his critique of contemporary liberalism; reflects on the role of generational experiences in shaping the search for a political alternative; offers a detailed assessment…

Why film matters: Oksana Sarkisova on the importance of documenting society
In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Lucie Hunter, Oksana Sarkisova – Blinken OSA Research Fellow and the Director of Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – discusses the role of filmmaking in today’s society; how festivals are reacting to contemporary global conflicts and challenges; the importance of safekeeping visual archives; and how micro-histories…

Why Do Autocracies Last? Lucan Way on the Longevity of Revolutionary Regimes
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Lucan Way – co-author, with Steven Levitsky, of the new book “Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism” – introduces what revolutionary autocracies are; explains why they tend to prove much more durable than other kinds of authoritarian regimes; discusses how the revolutionary sequences so crucial for…

The Trouble with Fortune: Zsuzsanna Szelényi on Hungary’s Tainted Democracy
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Zsuzsanna Szelényi – author of the new book “Tainted Democracy. Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary” – analyzes the main characteristics of the Orbán regime and the techniques Hungary’s current rulers have employed to establish their dominance over the country’s economy; reflects on the dilemmas and strategies…

Why Waste Our Data in Online Malls? Ben Tarnoff on Democratizing the Internet
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Ben Tarnoff – author of the new book “Internet for the People. The Fight for Our Digital Future” – discusses how the internet was created and how it has been privatized; how its current version fuels inequality and the rise of the political Right; why finding the…

Democracy as a Way of Facing Obstacles: Lilia Moritz Schwarcz on Brazilian Authoritarianism and the Unfinished Project of Full Citizenship
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz – author of the book “Brazilian Authoritarianism” – contrasts mythological and critical-realistic versions of Brazilian history; discusses the main facets of authoritarianism in the country; compares the Bolsonaro phenomenon with the Trump one; and elaborates on her vision of democracy and full citizenship.

Building Majorities is the Essence of Democracy: Timothy Shenk on His New Biography of American Democracy
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Timothy Shenk – author of “Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy” – discusses what motivated him to explore the making of majorities and key members of the democratic elite who made those majorities; how the strongest and strangest coalition in American…

Is There Something We Can Salvage of Universalism? Till van Rahden on Conceptual History and Liberal Democracy
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Till van Rahden discusses his last book “Vielheit. Jüdische Geschichte und die Ambivalenzen des Universalismus” (Multitude. Jewish History and the Ambivalences of Universalism)

How to Best Manage the Unfolding Crisis of Everything: Gaia Vince on Key Implications of the Climate Crisis
In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Gaia Vince – author of the new book “Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval” – sketches the transformations climate change and the accompanying rise in global average temperature are likely to bring in the coming decades; reflects on the most promising innovations when it comes to…

A Path to Democracy Without Destabilization: Joseph Wong Explains the Types of Development and the Patterns of Uneven Democratization in Modern Asia
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Joseph Wong – co-author with Dan Slater of the new monograph “From Development to Democracy. The Transformations of Modern Asia” – discusses when and why regimes have chosen to democratize in modern Asia; how come types rather than levels of development have shaped countries’ democratic prospects; why Singapore and China remain…

Down-to-Earth Machines of Exploitation. Andreas Eckert on Colonialism, Slavery, and Current Debates
In this conversation with Norman Aselmeyer, Andreas Eckert – author of German-language overviews of the history of colonialism and of slavery – presents his approach to the history of colonialism.

Ambiguous Tests of Loyalty: Franziska Exeler about the Second World War and its Long Shadow in Belarus
In this extended conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Franziska Exeler – author of the new monograph “Ghosts of War: Nazi Occupation and Its Aftermath in Soviet Belarus” – discusses the extremely violent history of Belarus during the Second World War; analyses the various choices people made under the dire constrains of the Nazi German…

In conversation with Francis Fukuyama: “Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if it had been a democracy”
In this interview with Francis Fukuyama, hosted by Laetitia Strauch-Bonart (Editor of the Ideas section in the French weekly L’Express) and Michał Matlak (RevDem Managing Editor), they discuss his latest book, the status of liberal and illiberal democracies in the world today, how this relates to Russia, China, and the US, the threats to American…

What Does Right-Wing Anti-Gender Mobilization Have to Do with Progressive Gender Trends? Eszter Kováts Investigates the Politics of Fidesz and AfD
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Eszter Kováts discusses the conclusions she has drawn from her comparison of the discourse coalitions around AfD in Germany and Fidesz in Hungary.

A turning point of democracy?
To mark the International Day of Democracy, we present an op-ed by Wolfgang Merkel examining the state of democracy around the world.

How Socialism Went Global – and Why It Withdrew. An Alternative Global History
RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó interviews three authors of the new collective monograph “Socialism Goes Global. The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the Age of Decolonization”, Péter Apor, James Mark and Steffi Marung.

Democracies Proved More Successful at Breaking Promises. Fritz Bartel on the End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism
RevDem section heads Vera Scepanovic and Ferenc Laczó talk with Fritz Bartel, author of “Triumph of Broken Promises. The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism”.

It is a mistake to see the Eastern vision as undemocratic. Peter Verovšek on European memory
In this conversation with RevDem editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Peter Verovšek — author of “Memory and the future of Europe. Rupture and integration in the wake of total war” — discusses the importance of foundational stories for communities; explains the influence of personal experience on the European integration; shows differences in remembering the past in West…

Repairing the Damage to Our Ethical Categories. A Conversation with Charlotte Wiedemann
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Charlotte Wiedemann – author of the just released German-language volume Den Schmerz der Anderen begreifen. Holocaust und Weltgedächtnis (To Grasp the Pain of Others. Holocaust and Global Remembrance).

Rehabilitating the Principle of Hope in Modern History. Enzo Traverso on Revolutions
In conversation with Una Blagojević and Iker Itoiz Ciaurriz, Enzo Traverso discusses key themes in his newest book Revolution: An Intellectual History (Verso, 2021).

“Post-War Christian Democracy Was Relatively Short-Lived” Fabio Wolkenstein on the Dark Side of Christian Democratic History and Politics
In this conversation with Ferenc Laczó, Fabio Wolkenstein – author of the new book Die dunkle Seite der Christdemokratie. Geschichte einer autoritaeren Versuchung (The Dark Side of Christian Democracy. The History of an Authoritarian Temptation) – sketches the broad variety of Christian politics across modern Europe.

“War is for the Weak”: Stella Ghervas on the European Divorce between Peace and Empire
RevDem Editor Ferenc Laczó reviews Stella Ghervas’ major new monograph Conquering “Peace. From the Enlightenment to the European Union,” a stylishly written, often stimulating, if slightly unusual scholarly monograph. Inspired, among others, by Robert de Traz’s 1936 book De l’alliance des rois à la ligue des peuples, Sainte-Alliance et SDN (From the Alliance of Kings…

Beyond the “mafia-state”: a comprehensive and innovative approach to post-communist regimes
Gábor Illés, Research Fellow at the Department for Democracy and Political Theory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence, reviews “The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes: A conceptual framework” (CEU Press, 2021) by Bálint Magyar and Bálint Madlovics.

Democracy Depends on Those Who Are Harder to Fool: Daniel Treisman on the Changing Face of Dictatorship
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Daniel Treisman – co-author, with Sergei Guriev, of “Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century” – discusses how ‘spin dictatorships’ differ from ‘fear dictatorships’; why such a new form of dictatorship has emerged and spread in recent decades; what might explain the at…

A Global History of Hungary: In Conversation with Ferenc Laczó, Bálint Varga, and Dóra Vargha
In this conversation with Bence Bari and Orsolya Sudár, editors Ferenc Laczó and Bálint Varga and contributor Dóra Vargha discuss the new volume “Magyarország globális története, 1869-2022 (A Global History of Hungary, 1869-2022)”. The conversation focuses on some of the innovative questions posed by trying to reconceptualize the history of a Central and Eastern European…

Free Speech, Equality, and Tolerance Are Mutually Reinforcing: A Conversation with Jacob Mchangama
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Jacob Mchangama discusses central ideas of his new monograph “Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media”. The conversation reflects on how to write a global history of this subject; contrasts egalitarian and elitist conceptions of free speech; explores facets of the free speech recession…

Davide Rodogno on the Troubled History of Western Humanitarianism
In this conversation with guest contributor Nikola Pantić, Davide Rodogno discusses his new book Night on Earth: A History of International Humanitarianism in the Near East, 1918-1930 (Cambridge University Press, 2021). The conversation focuses on the reasons why the Middle East became a popular destination for Western humanitarian agencies in the first decades of the…

How to Avoid Further Escalation? A Conversation with Wolfgang Merkel on the Scholz Government and German Foreign Policy Today
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Wolfgang Merkel talks about German foreign policy, describes key decisions and non-decisions of the new German government and reflects on the reasons that led him to sign the Open Letter to Chancellor Scholz.

The ‘New Europe’ Campaign: The Failure of Liberal Internationalism and the Resilience of Imperialism
Historians of the Habsburg Empire and the First World War analyze the fascinating story of Robert William Seton-Watson’s propaganda for the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of a ‘New Europe.’ They historicize ideas concerning the ‘balance of power’, European integration, anti-imperialist liberal internationalism, and the making of the post-Habsburg nation-states in Central…

In Conversation with Eva Fodor: How the Carefare Gender Regime Shapes Hungary
RevDem Editor László Bence Bari in conversation with Éva Fodor, Professor at the Gender Studies and Pro-Rector of the Central European University about her latest book “The Gender Regime of Anti-Liberal Hungary”. In this book, she argues that the anti-liberal government of Hungary has established a specific kind of gender regime, the ’carefare’ policy which…

Brazilian Intellectuals and the French Social Sciences: Ian Merkel on Writing Anti-Diffusionist Intellectual History
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Ian Merkel discusses why Brazil in the 1930s offered such a precious opportunity to innovate in the social sciences; shows the ways in which Brazilians were crucial interlocutors for French social scientists; explores how the terms of exchange between French and Brazilian scholars evolved over time; and…

Change of framing and the need for peace in Ukraine: A reply to Szulecki and Wig
Responding to critiques of their op-ed on why the war in Ukraine should not be discussed using the “democracy vs. autocracy” framework, authors Irina Domurath and Stefano Palestini further develop why orienting the discussion around Russia’s abuse of international law could draw more international support and avoid escalation into a Third World War.

The First Revolution Born in Oxford: Simon Kuper on the Tory Elite’s “Betrayal by Mistake”
In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Simon Kuper – author of the new book “Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK” – discusses why Oxford University was so crucial to the formation of the current Tory elite; how this highly influential generational cohort of Tories may be placed into…

Chamstwo. A Story of the Polish Serfdom: in conversation with Kacper Pobłocki
In a conversation with our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Kacper Pobłocki discusses his recent book Chamstwo and reflects on how Polish society was historically based on violence; elaborates on the historical sources of the name “Cham”; compares Polish predicament with other European states and discusses current state of the academia.

Boyd van Dijk on the Making of the Geneva Conventions: The Most Important Rules Ever Formulated for Armed Conflict
In this conversation with Ferenc Laczó, Boyd van Dijk – author of the new monograph “Preparing for War: The Making of the Geneva Conventions” discusses what makes the Geneva Conventions such defining documents when it comes to formulating rules for armed conflict.

Interrogating the Fantasy and Impact of Displacement: A Conversation with Lorenzo Veracini on Settler Colonialism as a Political Idea
In this conversation, Lorenzo Veracini reflects on key ideas in his new intellectual history of settler colonialism The World Turned Inside Out. He outlines the transnational coherence of the political sensibilities and rhetorical traditions of settler colonialism and shows how attention to ideas and practices of displacement might help us make sense of the historical…

Realist Thought Between Empire-Building and Restraint: Matthew Specter on Why a Flawed Tradition Endures
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Matthew Specter discusses key concepts and tropes in the language of realism; the comparisons across the Atlantic that have defined the realist tradition over the generations; the broad appeal of this manner of thinking despite its notable intellectual weaknesses; and the more normative elements of his critique.

Sarah Shortall on the Counter-politics of Theology
In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Vilius Kubekas, Sarah Shortall discusses the history of the nouvelle théologie movement in France and brings into focus the political dimension of theology.

Can they ever win? The past and future prospects for an opposition victory in Hungary’s competitive authoritarian regime
By analyzing the recent parliamentary elections, the authors attempt to answer a key question for Hungary and Europe: is Viktor Orban and his ruling party defeatable?

Gary Gerstle on the Neoliberal Political Order: An Elite Promise of a World of Freedom and Emancipation (Part II)
In part II of this conversation with Gary Gerstle, he discusses opposed moral perspectives and their compatibility with the neoliberal political order; why the neoliberal order used the coercive power of the state to incarcerate millions; and the ways in which we can observe the retreat of neoliberal hegemony today.

What is Christian Democracy? A Book Discussion with Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
In September CEU Democracy Institute and the Review of Democracy held the symposium “The Past and Present of Christian Democracy” where leading scholars discussed the historical significance and contemporary state of Christian Democracy. The first panel was dedicated to Carlo Invernizzi Accetti’s book “What is Christian Democracy? Politics, Religion and Ideology”. The book was discussed…

Gary Gerstle on the Neoliberal Political Order: An Elite Promise of a World of Freedom and Emancipation (Part I)
In this conversation with Ferenc Laczó, Gary Gerstle discusses key questions tackled in his new “The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era.” Part I covers Gerstle’s interpretation of the longue durée history of liberalism; his encompassing approach to the study of political orders; how the…

Book review: Giuseppe Martinico, Filtering Populist Claims to Fight Populism: The Italian Case in Comparative Perspective (CUP 2021)
Julian Scholtes, a lecturer in EU and Public Law at Newcastle University, reviews “Filtering Populist Claims to Fight Populism: The Italian Case in Comparative Perspective” by Giuseppe Martinico, “a wonderfully written in-depth analysis of the constitutional dimensions of populism in Italy.”

The war in Ukraine is all about democracy vs dictatorship
A dictatorship has just brutally attacked its democratic neighbor. It’s not the first time in history that happens, but there are good reasons to see the war in Ukraine as the first one defining the conflict lines of this century.

Mark R. Beissinger: Revolutions have succeeded more often in our time, but their consequences have become more ambiguous
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Mark R. Beissinger introduces his unique global dataset and probabilistic structural approach to revolution; analyzes the prevalent form of revolution in our age he calls “urban civic”; dissects how the consequences of revolution have shifted over time; and reflects on how revolution may be changing again today.

Historians and Populism: Regional Perspectives and Entanglements
In light of the recent solidifying of what could be named as ‘populist international’, we are opening a conversation on one of the first areas and people that were targeted: history and historians. Populist regimes and their supporters feed themselves on historical myths, distortions and subversion of the public debate on historical themes.

George Soros’ philanthropy is based completely on values: A conversation with Peter Osnos
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Peter Osnos discusses his new edited volume “George Soros: A Life in Full”.

Joshua L. Cherniss on Liberalism and Ethical Commitment in Dark Times [LONG READ]
In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Vilius Kubekas, Joshua L. Cherniss discusses the central role ethical commitment played in twentieth-century liberalism.

Ukraine: not a war about democracy
In this op-ed by Irina Domurath and Stefano Palestini, they discuss the war in Ukraine and why the West should leave behind the narrative that this is a “war of values.”

Caroline Mezger: Youth and the Politicization of Germanness in Interwar Yugoslavia
A conversation with Caroline Mezger about her book, “Forging Germans: Youth, Nation and the National Socialist Mobilization of Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia (1918-1944).”

In conversation with Robert Zaretsky: Irresistible Simone Weil
Simone Weil’s figure poses a challenge to each reader of hers. In this conversation, our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska speaks to prof. Robert Zarestky (professor at the University of Houston), about the heroine of his recently published biography: Simone Weil.

Crisis as a trigger for new ways of thinking about politics
A conversation with Cesare Cuttica, László Kontler, and Clara Maier concerning their recently released volume, “Crisis and Renewal in the History of European Political Thought.”

5 Books on Putinism
Our editors Kasia Krzyzanowska and Michal Matlak have selected 5 books that encourage a better understanding of the aggressor: Vladimir Putin and the system he has created.

Maarten Prak: Democracy in medieval and early-modern towns was stronger than democracy post 1789
In this interview with Maarten Prak, hosted by Karen Culver, they discuss Maarten’s book Citizens without Nations: Urban Citizenship in Europe and the World c. 1000-1789. Maarten comments on how citizenship functioned in medieval and early modern Europe; why the term “urban governance” is preferable to “urban democracy”; how accessible guilds were at this time, and more.

Dunstan: Black thinkers have contested the principles of democracy in ways that are central to the experience of these democracies
Sarah Dunstan in conversation with Ferenc Laczó talks about her new monograph “Race, Rights and Reform”, maps the landscape of Black activist thought across the French Empire and the United States from World War One to the Cold War; shows how gender operated in tandem with the dynamics of race and class; underlines how the end of empire connected…

The competitive element in competitive authoritarianism is still very pertinent. Dimitar Bechev on Turkey Under Erdogan
Dimitar Bechev in conversation with Ferenc Laczó discusses the current shape of the Turkish political system.

Marlene Laruelle: Russian society is very different from its regime
Andrea Pető in conversation with Marlene Laruelle about illiberalism studies, whether Russia is fascist, the nature of Russia’s illiberalism, as well as its conservative softpower.

Kiran Klaus Patel: The European Union has unexpectedly become too important to ignore
Ferenc Laczó discusses with Kiran Klaus Patel his latest book “Europäische Integration. Geschichte und Gegenwart” (European Integration: History and the Present Day).

When Christian Democratic Youth Read Herbert Marcuse
In this conversation conducted by Vilius Kubekas, Anna von der Goltz discusses her recent book The Other ‘68ers: Student Protest and Christian Democracy in West Germany.

Suzanne Schneider: How the Apocalypticism of the Islamic State Reflects Global Transformations
Suzanne Schneider discusses the modernity of new forms of jihad; shows how the Islamic State’s organizational structure, understanding of the law, and spectacular violence reflect broader contemporary trends.

Michael Ignatieff: Liberalism has been weakened by its bloodless cosmopolitanism
Michał Matlak speaks with Michael Ignatieff about his recent book On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times, the role of religion in the modern world, whether conservative liberalism is possible today, the cancel culture, the (im)possibility of European integration, and much more.

Stefano Bottoni: How a Child of Kádár’s Time Built a Post-democratic Autocracy [Part 2]
Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič in conversation with Stefano Bottoni, author of a recent Italian-language book about Viktor Orbán.

Montás: Why liberal education is the bedrock of modern-day democracy
In this conversation, hosted by RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Roosevelt Montás discusses his recent book “Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation”.

Stefano Bottoni: How a Child of Kádár’s Time Built a Post-democratic Autocracy [Part 1]
Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič in conversation with Stefano Bottoni, author of a recent Italian-language book about Viktor Orbán.

The Rise of the EU Marked the End of the Universal Welfare State. Varela on People’s Histories
In this interview, Agnė Rimkutė discusses with Raquel Varela the importance of seeing the working classes as actors in the historical process and the implications of people’s history for our understanding of democracy.

Feinberg: De-Pathologizing the Recent History of Eastern Europe
Melissa Feinberg in a conversation with Ferenc Laczo on Her New Textbook Communism in Eastern Europe

Dirk Moses on the Diplomacy of Genocide and the Sinister Ambition of Permanent Security [Part II]
Dirk Moses in the second part of his conversation with Ferenc Laczo on the diplomacy of genocide and the deeply sinister ambitions of permanent security

5 Key 2021 Books in History of Ideas
Ferenc Laczó, editor of the History of Ideas section in the Review of Democracy, presents five key books in intellectual history published in 2021.

The Problems of Genocide: Dirk Moses on the Language of Transgression and the Genocide Convention in Context
Dirk Moses in conversation with Ferenc Laczo on his last book “The Problems of Genocide. Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression”.

Marius Turda: The idea of race across centuries and our current moment of reckoning
Marius Turda in conversation with Ferenc Laczo about A Cultural History of Race.

Laszlo Bruszt: The EU confederal regime weakens vulnerable member states
In this interview Laszlo Bruszt, Co-Director of the CEU Democracy Institute and Editor-in-Chief of RevDem, explains the inspiration behind the CEU Democracy Institute and RevDem, how East-West and North-South divisions define Europe, and why the EU confederal regime weakens vulnerable member states.

Dimitry Kochenov: Why we shall abolish citizenship
Professor Dimitry Kochenov in conversation with Michał Matlak explains why he believes citizenship is a “perpetuation of the ideas of aristocracy,” sexism, and racism; what can be done to fix this issue; and what motivated him to write “Citizenship” (MIT Press, 2019).

Emily Greble: European History via the Experience of Muslims
Emily Greble in conversation with Ferenc Laczo discusses what foregrounding Muslims’ agency implies for the writing of European history; what were key legacies of the Ottoman Empire and how Muslims became a distinct legal minority; in what ways they related to the major political movements of the twentieth century; and how focusing on their experiences…

Linking sexual diversity to otherness is an old phenomenon
Bence Bari interviews Tamás Dombos, the representative of the Hungarian LGBTQI organization ‘Háttér Society’ concerning the recently adopted Hungarian anti-LGBT measures, their transnational and historical background with respect to the global dynamics of acceptance, and homophobia between the Western and Eastern hemisphere.

‘In the Name of the Family’: Conference Report on the Budapest Demographic Summit
The authors summarize and contextualize the content of the summit to argue that the conference not only provided an opportunity for its participants to address the ‘demographic crisis’ in Europe and the ‘family politics of conservative’ governments,’ but also amounted to an attempt to develop a transnational narrative for such self-declared conservatives that could unite…

What After the Pandemic?
Kasia Krzyżanowska reviews for us “Pandemonium” by Luuk van Middelaar, a book that summarizes the crisis he deems as most important for the EU in decades: the coronavirus pandemic.

Emily Levine on the Hard Compromises behind Academic Innovation
In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Emily Levine (Stanford University) discusses key ideas in her new book “Allies and Rivals: German-American Exchange and the Rise of the Modern Research University”, a transatlantic monograph that draws on extensive historical research and applies sociological theory to study how the academic social contract was repeatedly renegotiated in…

The Price of Optimism. A Conversation with Geert Mak about Europe in Our Times
In this wide-ranging conversation occasioned by the release of his The Dream of Europe. Travels in the Twenty-First Century, Geert Mak discusses why he chose to write a sequel to “In Europe. Travels Through the Twentieth Century”.

Márki-Zay would be a Never Trump Republican in America
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Gábor Tóka talks about the Fall 2021 Hungarian opposition primaries

Zsolt Enyedi: Is it still possible to win an election in Hungary, if you’re not Viktor Orbán?
Michal Matlak interviews Zsolt Enyedi about the development of Church-State relations in Hungary, Viktor Orban’s vision of Christian Democracy, why the Democracy Institute plays an important symbolic role in Budapest, and about his recently published book, “Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe”

Lea Ypi: Ideas of freedom across a historical rupture
Lea Ypi in conversation with Ferenc Laczo about her new memoir “Free: Coming of Age at the End of History” and how the people who populate its pages help her connect historical experiences with philosophical thought; how she experienced and dealt with the rupture of 1990 that forced her to reassess her childhood; how that…

“History as Democracy”: Interview with László Kontler
In this podcast, our assistant editor Bence Bari interviews László Kontler, the research affiliate of the CEU Democracy Institute’s History workgroup project, titled “History as Democracy.”

The Chancellor. A conversation with Kati Marton about Angela Merkel
Ferenc Laczó in conversation with Kati Marton about her biography of Angela Merkel. The conversation focuses on Kati Marton’s motivation to paint a human portrait of Angela Merkel, on Merkel’s personality traits and how they have impacted the style and substance of her political leadership.

Thinking like Hannah Arendt
Our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska (EUI, CEU) talks with Samantha Rose Hill, professor at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, about her recently published biography of Hannah Arendt.

Aldo Madariaga: Neoliberalism is not a solution for democracy
Aldo Madariaga discusses his latest book “Neoliberal Resilience: Lessons in Democracy and Development from Latin America and Eastern Europe” with our editor, Giancarlo Grignaschi.

From Socialist to Capitalist Walls
Gábor Scheiring reviews „Taking stock of shock. Social consequences of the 1989 revolutions” by Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein

Why is the collective protection of democracy in the Americas doomed to fail? The Inter-American Charter at 20
Stefano Palestini writes about the Inter-American Democratic Charter on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

An Authoritarian Liberal Europe? In Conversation with Michael Wilkinson
Oliver Garner interviews the author on his book ‘Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe’

Democracy Rules. A Book Discussion with Jan-Werner Müller and His Critics
Gráinne de Búrca, Jan Kubik, Jeffrey Isaac, and Karolina Wigura comment on the new book by Jan Werner Müller. Afterwards the author responds to the commentators.

Deadlock of Western liberalism. Petr Agha Reviews a Book by Krastev and Holmes
The Light that Failed: A Reckoning fails to deliver a fresh interpretation which would venture beyond the traditional liberal mantra. It is a representation of the contemporary deadlock of Western liberalism.

Invernizzi Accetti: Christian Democracy That Can Counter Right-Wing Populists
Vilius Kubekas in conversation. with the author of the book “What is Christian Democracy? Politics, Religion and Ideology”.