The Europe the New Deal Made: Current Tensions in Historical Perspective
This week, we continue our dig through our archive, bringing you a re-broadcast of another February 2003 lecture: “The Europe the New Deal Made: Current Tensions in Historical Perspective” by Columbia University Professor and IHS board member Ira Katznelson. The lecture is introduced by chairman of Boston University’s Department of Sociology John Stone.
In his lecture Professor Katznelson explores origins of the distinctive, and shifting, varieties of liberalism at the root of the tensions between the United States and Europe. He describes the influence of the New Deal in America, in particular, the values of the Democratic south, in shaping Western Europe and the international order in the aftermath of World War II. The transformation of American liberalism, beginning with election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, has led many Europeans to question US power and legitimacy. The question, Katznelson argues, is what kind of liberalism we wish to have.
This lecture aired on WBUR on March 9, 2003. We are grateful to WBUR for making the recording available to EU for YOU.