|
|
Interview: Dr.Christopher Allen On The Boomers, Students, And Democracy
by Irving Steel IS: What was it like going to school in Boston? CA: A great place to be a college student. 250,000 college students within a 50 mile radius of Boston. And, as a "boomer" we were a larger percentage of the population than students are now. In the late 60's and 70's this demographic "bulge" was a large shock to prevailing institutions. And, combined with the Vietnam War (including the military draft) and the civil rights movement, students were much more politically involved than they are now. IS: Do you have any fond memories of Carlton Fisk or the Red Sox during your time there? CA: I went to my first game at Fenway Park when I was 5. I grew up in Portland, Maine, just 100 miles north of Boston so I went to games a lot. In my first year at Boston College, I remember going to opening day and sitting in the bleachers for $1. This was 1967, the year of the "impossible dream" when the Sox went from a decade long period of finishing near the bottom to winning the American League pennant. Fisk came when I was in grad school. IS: What kind of student were you? Did this change? Why? CA: Not as good as most of my students now. I was not as well-directed as I later became and found myself majoring in business for no particular reason. I had to work part time and had college loans and didn't spend enough time studying, as I should have. IS: How did your interest in other countries develop? CA: About 2 years after I graduated from college. On a trip to Germany with one of my brothers when we were visiting one of my sisters whose husband was in the US military. I was instantly struck by how Germany had a different form of capitalism and a different form of democracy. Like too many Americans who don't travel outside the country, I had thought that every country was "supposed to" have the same kind of capitalism and democracy that we had. I was very curious about the causes and implications of these differences. IS: How did you get into driving taxis? CA: I needed a job. After working in sales for Exxon, I desperately wanted out and knew I needed to take political science courses at night in order to even think about applying to grad school in political science. As a business major I had only taken the equivalent of POLS 1101 and needed to have the equivalent of a minor in political science to apply to grad school. Driving a taxi gave me the flexibility to study while I was working. IS: What do you think it was about you that changed your career and life path? CA: Seeing alternative economic and political practices in Europe; AND noting the vastly different way that I was treated by my employers at Exxon and at the taxi company. Growing up as a "middle class" kid in southern Maine, I thought everyone was part of a vast middle class. Driving a taxi let me see that there is a large percentage of our population that isn't even close to achieving the American Dream. IS: What's one of the most absurd comments someone has made to you about your beliefs or viewpoints? What was it in reference to? CA: After publishing an op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time of the bicentennial of the constitution that suggested that many contemporary political problems would be less intractable if we had a parliamentary system, I was invited to appear on an AM radio talk show. One of the callers referred to me as "the devil incarnate" about even suggesting such a change. IS: What is on the horizon? What are you currently working on? CA: Two book projects: The first is Ideas, Institutions, and Organized Capitalism that investigates whether the European Social Model of a mixed-economy and generous universal welfare benefits can withstand the pressures of globalization and free-market economic policies; and the second is less well-advanced that investigates the strengths and weaknesses of presidential and parliamentary systems in developed democracies. IS: What is one thing you want to see changed in your lifetime? What do you still want to accomplish? CA: To live in a more representative and politically accountable political system than we have now; and to keep writing, teaching and exchanging ideas as long as I can. IS: What is or has been your single most important contribution to the University of Georgia and the Athens community? CA: Getting a chance to test my ideas both in the classroom and in my written work with an ever-increasing number of exceptional undergraduate and graduate students and supportive colleagues. IS: What has been your greatest accomplishment to date? CA: Realizing that I had the capacity to change my professional direction in my mid-20s after not even imagining that an academic path was possible. Comments [post a comment]Comments are closed |
|
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Weather: , °
Weather: , °
Post a Comment
E-mail To A Friend
Join The List
Technorati Tags