Philosophers, Rebels, Tyrants: course description
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Gerald Easter, Boston College
What is the role of “true believers” in the process of making a reality of ideas about the organization of society and political power? The course is a comparative study of three radical political movements and authoritarian regime types: Socialism, Nationalism and Islam. Each case is organized into three parts that stress ideas, actions, outcomes:
1. Philosophers: the intellectual origins and ideological core concepts;
2. Rebels: the rise of revolutionary movements and political conflicts that brought radical followers to power;
3. Tyrants: the nature of the particular authoritarian regimes that emerged from radical movements.
The course will discuss the similarities that exist in all these movements, but also stress the considerable variation, such as reforming moderates versus radical extremists, and localism versus internationalism.
Class reading assignments draw mainly on non-traditional social science sources, according to the organizing themes: -Philosophers – excerpts from original texts of the ideological founders of a movement;
-Rebels – autobiographical or eyewitness accounts of charismatic leaders and main events in rise to power;
-Tyrants – personal memoir accounts of firsthand experiences with authoritarian repressions.
Course Organization: The class is organized around lectures and critical analysis of readings. The reading list is heavy in firsthand accounts and personal memoir sources.
