George Katsiaficas is aGreek American[1] historian andsocial theorist. He is known for his many writings onsocial movements, includingThe Imagination of the New Left: The Global Analysis of 1968[2] andThe Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life.[3][4] He was a professor of humanities and sociology at theWentworth Institute of Technology inBoston from 1985 up to his retirement in 2015.[5][6][7] He sits on the editorial board ofNew Political Science, published by theCaucus for a New Political Science.[8]
After being mentored byHerbert Marcuse, Katsiaficas created the concept of the "eros effect," an analytical tool for explaining mass political awakenings andspontaneous 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 thathumanist instincts for liberty and justice are triggered by persistent inequality and explodevirally 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 asnational chauvinism,hierarchy, andindividualism)." Other scholars of the theory note that "rebellions in both industrial and preindustrial nations exhibit shared interests inanti-authoritarianself-governance, international solidarity, the transformation ofeveryday life, and the creation and promotion of alternative values and ethics." Katsiaficas and others have applied this framework to theanti-globalization movement, the "people power" uprisings in Asia in the 1980s (especially theGwangju Uprising), and theArab Spring, among other events.[9]
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