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Biennial of Thought

Lecture by Timothy Snyder

A Defence of Freedom: On the Rise of Authoritarianism Today

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Timothy Snyder, one of the world’s leading authorities on the history of Europe, warns of alarming antidemocratic trends appearing in western societies and urges rebellion against any form of authoritarianism.

We are floundering in a period of convulsion and uncertainty. The rise of the extreme right around the world has made manifest a growing mistrust in democracy as a political system in a shift which involves serious curtailment of freedoms and demonisation of minority groups. Echoes of the most chilling events of the twentieth century are growing ever louder.

Starting out from recent political developments in Russia, which he describes in his most recent book, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America (published in Spanish as El camino hacia la no libertad by Galaxia Gutenberg, 2018), the historian Timothy Snyder probes the causes of the present rise of authoritarianism and the instruments used in the process. Now, when we are swamped in a deluge of propaganda, fake news and invocations of a glorious, remote past, Snyder urges his readers to combat this present-day “political fiction”, with a reminder that the only way to fight tyranny is by means of active defence of democracy and freedom.

Presenters: Judit Carrera

Participants: Timothy Snyder

This activity is part of Open City Thinking Biennale 2018, Biennial of Thought

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Timothy Snyder

A Defence of Freedom: On the Rise of Authoritarianism Today

The rise of the extreme right around the world has made manifest a growing mistrust in democracy as a political system in a shift which involves serious curtailment of freedoms and demonisation of minority groups. Timothy Snyder, one of the leading authorities on the history of Europe, warns ...

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