George Katsiaficas is a Greek-American historian and social theorist. He is known for his many writings on

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...

, including ''The Imagination of the New Left: The Global Analysis of 1968'' and ''The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life.'' He was a professor of humanities and sociology at the

Wentworth Institute of Technology Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private institute of technology in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 21 bachelor's degree programs as well as 13 master's degrees. Histo ...

in Boston from 1985 up to his retirement in 2015. He sits on the Editorial Board of New Political Science, published by the Caucus for a New Political Science.

Eros effect

After being mentored by

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...

, Katsiaficas created the concept of the "eros effect," an analytical tool for explaining mass political awakenings and spontaneous rebellions which sweep through the world in certain time periods. According to this theory, economics and technology alone cannot account for the spread of these movements. Instead it posits that

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

instincts for liberty and justice are triggered by persistent inequality, and explode virally across populations. Katsiaficas writes that "in moments of eros effect, universal interests become generalized at the same time as the dominant values of society are negated (such as national chauvinism, hierarchy, and individualism)." Other scholars of the theory note that "rebellions in both industrial and preindustrial nations exhibit shared interests in antiauthoritarian self-governance, international solidarity, the transformation of

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or normal. Human diurnality means most peo ...

, and the creation and promotion of alternative values and ethics." Katsiaficas and others have applied this framework to the

anti-globalization movement The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

, the "

people power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...

" uprisings in Asia in the 1980s (especially the

Gwangju Uprising The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 ( ...

), and the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

, among other events.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katsiaficas, George 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American sociologists Autonomism Wentworth Institute of Technology Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male non-fiction writers