Ruth Ben-Ghiat

In this lecture, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an internationally renowned historian of fascism and authoritarian regimes past and present, stresses that universities have always been core targets of anti-democratic forces: “Strongmen disappear people, and they also disappear knowledge.” It’s an operation of noise and silence, she tells us. Aggressively take over institutions with the authoritarian worldview, hollow them out through “moral deregulation,” and bankrupt individuals by enticing them to distrust facts and betray their values. The goal, she argues, is to frighten civil society into silence in a coordinated attempt to stamp out dissent.Ben-Ghiat speaks from experience: she had to deliver this talk, part of the University of Michigan’s yearly lecture devoted to academic freedom, on Zoom due to safety concerns.