Andrei S. Markovits is the Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan. His many books, articles and reviews on topics as varied as sports, dog rescue and many aspects of European and comparative politics have been published in fifteen languages. He has received many prestigious prizes and fellowships. He has also won multiple teaching awards, most notably the Golden Apple Award at the University of Michigan in 2007.

In Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, and a number of other European countries, populist movements have appeared recently in many guises, altering these countries’ politics and policies. The movements have displayed characteristics that are reminiscent of - though not identical to developments of the 1920s and 1930s. The lecture will highlight the current situation, analyze its causes and manifestations, and look at similarities and differences to earlier events that contributed to a very turbulent history in Europe.

This is the first in a series of monthly lectures on various topics. The next lecture will be on October 9th. The title is How Legal “Ethics” Kept an Innocent Man in Prison for 26 Years.