The Second Progressive Era: The Changing Meanings of 'Liberal' and 'Progressive' in Interwar America

Event Details

Doug Rossinow is Assistant Professor of History at Metropolitan State University. Of his talk Rossinow explains, "This paper is drawn from one chapter of the broader, book-length project I am currently writing (tentatively entitled The Vital Margin: Interpreting “Progressive” Politics in Modern America). Looked at one way, the project stems from a set of historical questions concerning the use of political language in the United States from the late nineteenth century until the present day. The questions are mundane ones, primarily, Why and how have the meanings of terms like 'liberal' and 'progressive' changed so much as they evidently have? Most of us may think we know the answers to these questions, but the historical literature is often maddeningly lacking in specific information about who used these terms in their (various) contemporary meanings, and exactly when different usages became common."