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What ails people at the present time in Western and especially American society is an inexhaustible subject. Discussion of these discontents in the United States in the last decade of the twentieth century leads to an obvious question: How much and what kind of discontents are possible in a society that has experienced over a decade of economic growth, close to full employment, hardly any inflation, falling crime rates, declining teenage pregnancies, and other good things? Is there anything to worry about in a country that has become the undisputed superpower of the world and no longer faces another hostile superpower such as the Soviet Union used to be? Paul Hollander wrestles with these an...
This book explores the roots of reverence and admiration expressed by many distinguished Western intellectuals for ruthless dictators.
Why did so many distinguished Western Intellectuals from G.B. Shaw to J.P. Sartre, and. closer to home, from Edmund Wilson to Susan Sontag admire various communist systems, often in their most repressive historical phases? How could Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao's China, or Castro's Cuba appear at one time as both successful modernizing societies and the fulfillments of the boldest dreams of social justice? Why, at the same time, had these intellectuals so mercilessly judged and rejected their own Western, liberal cultures? What Impulses and beliefs prompted them to seek the realization of their ideals in distant, poorly known lands? How do their journeys fit into long-standing Western traditio...
In its domestic manifestations anti-Americanism may be equated with alienation, or an embittered radical social criticism. Abroad it may take the form of nationalism, anti-capitalism, and protest against modernity. This volume examines the phenomenon within American society and aboard, especially among intellectuals.
The unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 signaled the demise of a political and economic system that was widely perceived as durable, the preeminent rival to that of the United States. Less conspicuous than the momentous political transformations were the altered beliefs, aspirations, and illusions of the individuals who had maintained and led that system. In this original interpretation the eminent sociologist Paul Hollander focuses on the human aspects of the failure of Soviet communism. He examines how members of the Soviet political elite, leaders in communist Czechoslovakia and Hungary, high-ranking officials in agencies of control and coercion, and distinguished defectors an...
The proliferation of dating websites, printed personals and self-help relationship books reflect the new ways Americans seek close, personal relationships. Exposed to changing and often conflicting values, trends, and fashions—disseminated by popular culture, advertising and assorted "experts"—Americans face uncertainties about the best ways to meet important emotional and social needs. How do we establish lasting and intimate personal relationships including marriage? In Extravagant Expectations Paul Hollander investigates how Americans today pursue romantic relationships, with special reference to the advantages and drawbacks of Internet dating compared to connections made in school, c...
Hvad var det, der får kendte vestlige intellektuelle til at beundre forskellige kommunistiske systemer og forkaste deres egne landes liberale? Hvorfor søge idealer i fjerne, ikke så godt kendte, lande?.
Why is it that while millions of people all over the world dream about living in the United States, many American intellectuals believe that this is a uniquely deformed and unjust society? Why do college students today have greater pride in their country than many of their teachers? How did the radical beliefs of the '60s survive and become, for many Americans, the new conventional wisdom? How is it possible that while communist systems are collapsing and seek a market economy, critics in the United States remain convinced of the evils of capitalism? Why are there more Marxists on any handful of American campuses than all over Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union? How can we explain that for i...
New areas of research are not the result of a snap of the finger. They are carved out of the marrow of human existence. The study of genocide well illustrates this raw fact. From the early efforts that emerged in the struggle against Nazism, and over the past half century, the field has now reached a point where there at least five genocide centers across the globe, and well over one hundred Holocaust centers. This work emerged out of an earlier effort at an oral history project; one that would enable a new generation of scholars, researchers and policy makers to assess the major foci of the field, efforts to develop ways and means to intervene and prevent future genocides, and review the su...
A collection of original case studies of different types of political violence in the 20th and 21st century inspired by the pioneering work of Robert Conquest. It focuses on the origins, manifestations and legitimation of such violence and includes the former Soviet Union, Mao's China, Castro's Cuba and radical-militant Islam.