Sociologist to Examine Nationalism Shift in Contemporary Europe

11/02/2015 

Cornell sociology professor Mabel Berezin will discuss the resurgence of extreme nationalism in contemporary Europe on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at SUNY Cortland.

Berezin, who has a Ph.D. from Harvard University, will present “Have the 1930s Returned? The Resurgence of Extreme Nationalism in Contemporary Europe” at 4:30 P.M. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.

A reception to welcome her precedes the talk at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum, Moffett Center, Room 2126.

The presentation is free and open to the public. The lecture continues the 2015-16 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series themed on “The Culture of Thought,” which allows participants to explore what has shaped, and is changing, the way humans think about the world around them.

Commentators and academics have debated that this right nationalist resurgence indicates a return of the politics of the 1930s.

The lecture will look at how extremist thinking is on the rise in Europe due to current problems such as the debt crisis and the arrival of desperate refugees.

Berezin will explore the period since the sovereign debt crisis hit Europe in 2010.

“There has been a resurgence of right or extreme nationalist parties in virtually every former Western European country and in some Eastern European countries,” Berezin said.

The lecture will not only explore the momentum that the rightward shift has been building but how analysts first viewed the “minor” departures as a temporary sign of fringe voter discontent.

Berezin also will focus on the disastrous combination of the continued financial crisis and the migration crisis.

According to Berezin, without a plan the shift will continue and Europe will be set back nearly a century in its politics and nationalistic stand.

The lecture will stress the importance of the EU to create policies to address both crises.

Berezin hopes to spark a debate on why the changes are happening and what steps can be taken to revert away from the shift.

Berezin is the author of three widely reviewed books, including the 2009 text, Illiberal Politics in Neoliberal Times: Culture, Security, and Populism in the New Europe (Cambridge University Press). The publication received a 2010 honorable mention from the American Sociological Association. She has conducted much published research in her field.

The 2015-16 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and the Cortland College Foundation.

For more information, contact Sharon R. Steadman, professor of sociology/anthropology, lecture series organizer and Brooks Museum director, at 607-753-2308.