Professors Discuss Zakaria's Book'The Future of Freedom' at Westmont Downtown Lecture
Two Westmont professors will discuss Fareed Zakaria’s book, “The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad,” as part of Westmont Downtown: Conversations About Things that Matter. The event is free and open to the public, Thursday, Feb. 21, at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St., at 5:30 p.m.
Charles Farhadian, associate professor of religious studies, is an expert on world religions and has focused much of his research on Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He has written “Christian Worship Worldwide: Expanding Horizons, Deepening Practices,” “The Testimony Project: Papua” and “Christianity, Islam, and Nationalism in Indonesia.”
“The book focuses attention on broad themes of liberty, democracy, and capitalism in an accessible and deeply engaging discussion that illuminates the fault lines between successful and failed democracies,” Farhadian says. “The book is a timely presentation of pertinent topics of current American political discourse on foreign policy, world trade, and emerging democracies.”
Rick Pointer, professor of history, is an expert on American colonial and revolutionary history. He has published “Encounters of the Spirit: Native Americans and European Colonial Religion” and “Protestant Pluralism and the New York Experience: A Study of Eighteenth-Century Religious Diversity.”
“‘The Future of Freedom’ lays out a series of bold arguments that collectively remind us not to equate democracy with freedom,” Pointer says. “As he and current global events make clear, the world is replete with examples of illiberal democracy that inhibit rather than augment the cause of liberty. How world leaders, including our own, should respond to this challenge is the type of big question Zakaria is adept at asking and any friend of freedom should be concerned to answer.”
The event is tied to Westmont’s President’s Breakfast Feb. 25 where Zakaria himself will speak. The Westmont Foundation sponsors both the breakfast and the lecture series to reach out and engage the larger Santa Barbara and Montecito communities.