The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate "Andrey Nikolov" presents:

Understanding Anti-Americanism

public lecture by Brendon O'Connor

Dr Brendon O'Connor is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University, Australia. He is the author of A Political History of the American Welfare System: When Ideas Have Consequences (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), co-editor with Martin Griffiths of The Rise of anti-Americanism (Routledge, 2006) and editor of the volume series entitled Anti-Americanism ( Greenwood, 2007).
Brendon O'Connor's four-volume series on anti-Americanism defines and analyses anti-Americanism before offering historical and comparative overviews. It concludes by exploring current trends in anti-Americanism. Volume one begins with the crucial task of defining anti-Americanism before moving on to explore the anti-American mindset. Volume one and the series in general emphasizes an historical approach, showing how negative tropes and narratives about America and Americans from the nineteenth century have been recycled in more recent debates. Volume two examines the crucial events and ideas throughout history that have shaped the development of anti-Americanism. The contrast between America as the uncouth orphan child of Europe and as an exceptional and promised land is discussed in many of the chapters. This paradox goes a long way to explaining both the frustrations and confusion evoked by America around the world. Volume three explores anti-Americanism in a comparative perspective, giving an exhaustive survey of anti-Americanism in nine countries and two regions. Along with the usual suspects of the Middle East and France, the volume analyses lesser explored frontiers of anti-Americanism such as the Philippines and Greece. The volume also offers comparative chapters on globalization and Anglophobia. Lastly, Volume four tackles twenty-first century anti-Americanism, exploring it through issues such as the war in Iraq, and recent US economic and human rights policies.

September 26 (Wednesday), 5.00 p.m.
Pesha Nikolova hall
Free entrance

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