From the aftermath of communism to the place of religion in politics, Anna Grzymała-Busse has spent her career engaging some of the most vexing questions of contemporary political life. The Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies at Stanford, Grzymała-Busse is also a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Hoover Institution. Her first two books Redeeming the Communist Past (Cambridge, 2002) and Rebuilding Leviathan (Cambridge, 2007) established her as a leading authority on the political transformation of Eastern European societies. More recently, she has turned her attention to the intersection of religion and politics, examining the political influence of churches in differing national contexts in her third book, Nations Under God (Princeton, 2015).
In her latest work, Sacred Foundations (Princeton, 2023), Prof. Grzymała-Busse offers a striking new interpretation of the origins of the modern state. How did the medieval Catholic church birth the modern secular state, and how does this surprising history continue to shape our political life today? To share her insights into the paradoxical past, and uncertain future, of contemporary democratic states, the Clough Center is delighted to welcome Anna Grzymała-Busse as a 2024-25 Clough Distinguished Lecturer. Please join us for a thought-provoking lecture, and the final event of our fall semester.
