Slovenian scholar discusses political left of Eastern Europe
March 10, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- The political left of Europe, a movement that during the Cold War included communists from Eastern Europe and social democrats from Western Europe, has taken on a new face, and a prestigious annual lecture at Western Michigan University will explore that new identity.
To understand how the left has dealt with the unification of Western and Eastern Europe, Dr. Igor Luksic, dean of the faculty of social sciences at the University of Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenija, will be on campus to discuss "The Role of the Left in Post-Communist Eastern Europe" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the Fetzer Center's Putney Lecture Hall, Room 1010.
Luksic's talk is the 2003 George Klein Lecture, an annual event named for a longtime WMU professor of political science, who died in 1982. The lectures are supported by an endowment established by Klein's wife, Dr. Patricia Klein, WMU professor emerita of general studies.
"The left is now a part of the leading political force in Europe," says Luksic. "To understand this, my talk will deal with the effect of unification, the Americanization of the European Left, and the democratic consolidation of Eastern Europe."
In addition to the Klein endowment, the lecture is sponsored by WMU's Institute of Government and Politics and the Department of Political Science.
Media contact: Matt Gerard, 269 387-8400, matthew.gerard@wmich.edu