Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Joins CDDRL as Visiting Scholar

During her time at Stanford, she will conduct research and work on a book project titled The Primacy of Economics: The Decline of Social Democracy, the Rise of Populism and the Fate of Democracy.

“Building on my previous research on the development of democracy, European politics, populism and fascism, and the history of the left, I plan on investigating the problems facing the contemporary left and the connection between these problems and the rise of populism and growing democratic dissatisfaction,” Berman said in a statement. “While there are now many books on each of these political developments, my book will be distinctive in making clear the interconnections among them, as well as by showing that it is not possible to fully understand contemporary developments without investigating their deeper historical roots.”

Berman will also participate in our Rethinking European Development and Security (REDS) Seminar Series, co-sponsored by The Europe Center and the Hoover Institution, which aims to deepen the research agenda on the new challenges facing Europe, especially on its eastern flank, and to build intellectual and institutional bridges across Stanford University, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to current global challenges.

Sheri Berman is the author of Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe: From the Ancien Régime to the Present Day (Oxford University Press, 2019) and The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe’s Twentieth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2006). In addition to her scholarly work, she has published in a wide variety of non-scholarly publications, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, VOX, The Guardian, and Dissent. She is on the boards of The Journal of Democracy, Political Science Quarterly, Dissent, and Persuasion.