A. James McAdams | |
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Occupation(s) | Political scientist, author and academic |
Academic background | |
Education | BA., Political Science MA., Political Science PhD., Political Science |
Alma mater | Earlham College University of California, Berkeley |
Thesis | Surviving Detente: East German Political Character After the Wall (1983) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Notre Dame |
A. James McAdams is a political scientist,author,and academic. He is the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. [1]
McAdams is most known for his research on communism,democratization,transitional justice,and far-right politics. [2] He is the author of four books,including East Germany and Détente,Germany Divided,Judging the Past in Unified Germany,and Vanguard of the Revolution, [3] and has also co-edited books such as Global 1968 and Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy. His contributions to the University of Notre Dame have won him several awards including the Thomas J. Madden Teaching Award [4] and the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce Award. [5] He also received a Gold Medal from the Catholic University of Slovakia [6] and earned the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Kellogg Institute International Scholars Program, [7] along with the DAAD Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in German Studies. [8]
McAdams is an associate editor for the The Review of Politics [9] and Contributing Editor for the New Oxford Review , [10] as well as a Member of the Academic Advisory Council for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. [11]
McAdams obtained his bachelor's degree in Political Science at Earlham College in 1976 and then received his M.A. (1977) and Ph.D. (1983) at the University of California,Berkeley,where he completed a dissertation titled "Surviving Détente:East German Political Character After the Wall". [12] He has also been a recipient of the Richard Weaver Graduate Fellowship in 1976,the DAAD Fellowship in 1981,the Humboldt Research Fellowship in 1987,the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Security in 1996,and he has been a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Konstanz,Germany from 2012 to 2013. [13]
McAdams began his academic career as a visiting lecturer at the University of California,Davis,and held the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Hamilton College from 1983 to 1985. [14] From 1985 to 1992,he was the Robert K. Root Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University, [15] and joined University of Notre Dame as an associate professor of Government and International Studies in 1992. He later assumed the role of professor and has held the position of William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs at Notre Dame since 2001. [16]
At Notre Dame,McAdams served as chair of the Department of Government and International Studies from 1997 to 2002. [17] Additionally,he served as the director at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies from 2002 to 2018. [18]
McAdams has published books and articles on subjects related to contemporary politics and political history,including authoritarianism,democratic collapse,right-wing and left-wing extremism,transitional justice,and political change. In recent years,his research has focused on exploring the rise and fall of world communism and analyzing the threat of far-right politics to liberal democracy in Europe and the United States. [19] [8]
McAdams' book Germany Divided offered an analysis of the forty-year relationship between East and West Germany,delving into the political,historical,and analytical factors that shaped both the divided and reunited Germany. [20] In his review for International Affairs ,Jonathan Osmond highlighted the book's focus on the policies and behavior of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),saying that by investigating the evolving governmental attitudes in East and West Germany regarding the division of Germany the book contributes to a better understanding of the contrasting political structures of the two republics. [21]
In 2001,McAdams explored the Federal Republic of Germany's efforts to address the legacy of dictatorship. [22] His book Judging the Past in Unified Germany examined four key aspects:criminal trials related to the Berlin Wall killings,the disqualification of administrative personnel with secret-police ties,parliamentary truth-telling commissions,and private property restitution to look into Germany's efforts to confront its history in the wake of division and reunification. Marc MorjéHoward,in his review for the Political Science Quarterly ,stated that the author has written a book that creates a new model for future studies not only about Germany but also about other countries that have,or will,pursue equitable and reconciliatory approaches to retrospective justice. [23]
McAdams' publication,Vanguard of the Revolution:The Global Idea of the Communist Party,was selected as one of the Best Books of 2018 by Foreign Affairs. It provided a historical exploration of the evolution of the communist party,highlighting its revolutionary origins and its adaptation in countries like the Soviet Union,China,Cuba,and North Korea. [24] In a feature for The Chicago Maroon ,he discussed how figures like Stalin and Mao ascended to power through internal party struggles and the centralization of power within their organizations. [25] He explained his motivation for writing the book,stating that political scientists had extensively explored party behavior in both developing and advanced democracies but had notably neglected the comparative study of communist parties. [26] Yvonne Howell,in the Times Higher Education ,described the book as a "sweeping introduction to one of the most influential and powerful political institutions that provides intellectual provocation and an inspiration to take better care of our fragile democracies." [27] Abhishek Bhattacharyya in the Chicago Review noted the book's demonstration of the diverse nature of communism and its limitations within the author's liberal political framework stating that the book inspires reflection on the nuances of political systems and their implications for democracy. [28]
In his 2021 book,Contemporary Far-right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy,McAdams and his collaborators systematically analyzed contemporary far-right intellectuals and their potential impact on democratic politics. [29] The book explored various ideological movements,including the European New Right,white nationalism,and antifeminism. In an interview about the book with The Illiberalism Studies Program,he noted that far-right intellectuals,while having diverse views on the ideal society,represent a different form of far-right political thinking than what scholars associate with fascism and other anti-democratic movements. [30] Steven Pittz's review in Law &Liberty noted that the book elucidates recurring themes within far-right ideology and provides guidance on defending liberal democracy against the more illiberal aspects of far-right movements. [31]
Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishment of communism. Lenin's ideological contributions to the Marxist ideology relate to his theories on the party,imperialism,the state,and revolution. The function of the Leninist vanguard party is to provide the working classes with the political consciousness and revolutionary leadership necessary to depose capitalism.
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term "communist party" was popularized by the title of The Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. As a vanguard party,the communist party guides the political education and development of the working class (proletariat). As a ruling party,the communist party exercises power through the dictatorship of the proletariat. Vladimir Lenin developed the idea of the communist party as the revolutionary vanguard,when the socialist movement in Imperial Russia was divided into ideologically opposed factions,the Bolshevik faction and the Menshevik faction. To be politically effective,Lenin proposed a small vanguard party managed with democratic centralism which allowed the centralized command of a disciplined cadre of professional revolutionaries. Once a policy was agreed upon,realizing political goals required every Bolshevik's total commitment to the agreed-upon policy.
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable,natural,normal,or desirable,typically supporting this position based on natural law,economics,authority,property,religion,or tradition. Hierarchy and inequality may be seen as natural results of traditional social differences or competition in market economies.
A communist state,also known as a Marxist–Leninist state,is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union,the Comintern after Bolshevisation and the communist states within the Comecon,the Eastern Bloc,and the Warsaw Pact. Marxism–Leninism currently still remains the ideology of a few parties around the world. After its peak when many communist states were established,the Revolutions of 1989 brought down most of the communist states,however,it is still the official ideology of the ruling parties of China,Cuba,Laos,Vietnam,and to a lesser extent,North Korea. During most of the 20th century,before the Revolutions of 1989,around one-third of the world's population lived under communist states.
The Communist International (Comintern),also known as the Third International,was an international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism,and which was led and controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress in 1920 to "struggle by all available means,including armed force,for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state". The Comintern was preceded by the dissolution of the Second International in 1916.
Council communism is a current of communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the November Revolution,council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated workers' councils and council democracy. It is regarded as being strongest in Germany and the Netherlands during the 1920s.
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum,but are closer to the centre. Parties of the centre-right generally support liberal democracy,capitalism,the market economy,private property rights,and a modest welfare state. They support conservatism and economic liberalism and oppose socialism and communism.
Jewish Bolshevism,also Judeo–Bolshevism,is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a Jewish plot and that Jews controlled the Soviet Union and international communist movements,often in furtherance of a plan to destroy Western civilization. It was one of the main Nazi beliefs that served as an ideological justification for the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Holocaust.
The College of Arts and Letters is the oldest and largest college within the University of Notre Dame. The Dean of the College of Arts and Letters is Sarah Mustillo.
Communism is a left-wing to far-left sociopolitical,philosophical,and economic ideology within the socialist movement,whose goal is the creation of a communist society,a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production,distribution,and exchange that allocates products to everyone in the society based on need. A communist society would entail the absence of private property and social classes,and ultimately money and the state.
Guillermo Alberto O'Donnell Ure was a prominent Argentine political scientist who specialized in comparative politics and Latin American politics. He spent most of his career working in Argentina and the United States,and who made lasting contributions to theorizing on authoritarianism and democratization,democracy and the state,and the politics of Latin America. His brother is Pacho O'Donnell.
Far-left politics,also known as the radical left or extreme left,are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single,coherent definition;some scholars consider it to represent the left of social democracy,while others limit it to the left of communist parties. In certain instances—especially in the news media—far left has been associated with some forms of authoritarianism,anarchism,communism,and Marxism,or are characterized as groups that advocate for revolutionary socialism and related communist ideologies,or anti-capitalism and anti-globalization. Far-left terrorism consists of extremist,militant,or insurgent groups that attempt to realize their ideals through political violence rather than using democratic processes.
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs,groups,and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire,and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War,when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense rivalry. Anti-communism has been an element of many movements and different political positions across the political spectrum,including anarchism,centrism,conservatism,fascism,liberalism,nationalism,social democracy,socialism,leftism,and libertarianism,as well as broad movements resisting communist governance. Anti-communism has also been expressed by several religious groups,and in art and literature.
The Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies is a $10,000 book prize sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The Laura Shannon Prize is awarded annually to the author of the "best book in European studies that transcends a focus on any one country,state,or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole." "Contemporary" is construed broadly,and books about particular countries or regions have done well in the process so long as there are implications for the remainder of Europe. The prize alternates between the humanities and history/social sciences. Nominations are typically due at the end of January each year and may be made by either authors or publishers. The final jury selects one book as the winner each year and has the discretion to award honorable mentions.
Nanovic Institute for European Forum,the Keeley Vatican Lecture,European film series,lecture series,conferences,symposium,special guest speakers,lunches and others. The Institute offers grants and fellowships,as well as a minor in European Studies for undergraduates at the University of Notre Dame,Indiana,USA.
Jodi Dean is an American political theorist and professor in the Political Science department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York state. She held the Donald R. Harter ’39 Professorship of the Humanities and Social Sciences from 2013 to 2018. Dean has also held the position of Erasmus Professor of the Humanities in the Faculty of Philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is the author and editor of thirteen books. Her most recent book is titled Comrade:An Essay on Political Belonging.
Far-left politics in the United Kingdom have existed since at least the 1840s,with the formation of various organisations following ideologies such as Marxism,revolutionary socialism,communism,anarchism and syndicalism.
Anna Maria Grzymala-Busse is an American political scientist. She is the Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies in the department of political science at Stanford University. She is also a senior fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and director of The Europe Center at Stanford University. Grzymala-Busse is known for her research on state development and transformation,religion and politics,political parties,informal political institutions,and post-communist politics. Previously,she was the Ronald Eileen Weiser Professor at University of Michigan.
Deborah Jane Yashar is an American political scientist. She is a Full Professor of Politics and International Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Her research interests involve politics of children and immigration in the Americas.