Quick Facts
Biography
Norman Pollack is a professor emeritus of history at Michigan State University. His interests include social theory and the structural analysis of capitalism and fascism.
Background
Pollack grew up in a Jewish family, and identifies as Jewish. He earned a PhD from Harvard University in 1961.
Pollack was honoured with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968.
Partial publications list
- Books
- The Humane Economy: Populism, Capitalism, and Democracy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 1990.
- The Just Polity: Populism, Law, and Human Welfare. Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press. 1987.
- The Populist Response to Industrial America: Midwestern Populist Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1962.
- Journal articles
- "The Myth of Populist Anti-Semitism". The American Historical Review. 68 (1): 76–80. 1962. doi:10.2307/1847185. JSTOR 1847185.
- "Fear of Man: Populism, Authoritarianism, and the Historian". Agricultural History. 39 (2): 59–67. 1965. JSTOR 3740602.
Political and other views
Pollack has spoken of his pride in his Jewish heritage, which materialized, in part, by "recognizing that Jewish people were in the forefront of radicalism and the arts." He is nevertheless critical of the society of present-day Israel, the occupation of Palestine, and what he terms the "Nazification" of the country. With regard to Zionism, the historian argues that although "[it] has proven to be a colonialist-imperialist ideology, that was not always the case".
Pollack believes his own country of the United States is basically fascist: "Fascism is not a dirty word, it is 21st century America. Since we live it, we should own it." He has been heavily critical of the Bush administration's program of extraordinary rendition, saying that it had "turned much of the world against America, and has created the basis for the rise of militant groups and the desire for retribution."