The New Conspiracism: Absurdity and Danger in American Democracy
Wed, Nov 20, 2019
6:30 PM–8:00 PM
Elebash Recital Hall
![](https://centerforthehumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/11_20_19_Nancy-L-Rosenblum_Irving-Howe-Lecture.jpg)
Watch the video recording of this the 24th Annual Irving Howe Memorial Lecture by Nancy L. Rosenblum below:
Conspiracy theory has always been with us, but today it is taking dangerous new forms that threaten the foundations of democracy. “The new conspiracism” assaults common sense, increases political extremism, and, especially when condoned by elected officials, becomes a malignant force in American life. Nancy L. Rosenblum, who is Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita at Harvard University, addresses this crisis, drawing on ideas in her book A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. Renowned author and political theorist Michael Walzer will introduce the lecture.
Irving Howe (1920-1993) graduated from City College New York in 1940 and become a founder of Democratic Socialists of America; he founded Dissent magazine and was considered one of the country’s most influential literary critics until his death. This annual lecture, endowed in his honor, focuses on the subjects closest to Irving Howe’s heart, including politics, Yiddish and Jewish culture, immigrant history and the modern literary imagination.
![](https://centerforthehumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GC-11.20.19-Nancy-L.-Rosenblum-4911-1.jpg)
Co-sponsored with Public Programs at the Graduate Center, CUNY as part of the GC Presents Fall 2019 season, and “The Promise and Perils of Democracy” series which was made possible in part with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
https://youtu.be/ZtkQ98RAUzgParticipants
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