Timothy Snyder’s "On Tyranny": Twenty Lessons in the Political Theory Classroom

• In Event: Pathways to Motivated Student Agency through Intentional Civic Pedagogy

Abstract

Snyder’s compact set of lessons derived from the study of the history of authoritarianism in the 20th century is not a work of political theory but an immediate call to action that is continuous with the purposes of political science education in general and the sense of democratic emergency at this time. Tyranny's clear and concise lessons point not only to the possibility and even duty of political action beyond the classroom but to the core practices of traditional theory in the classrooms itself. Snyder teaches the political significance of face-to-face conversations, being physically present, careful and even “kind” treatment of language, a concern for truth, and a commitment to investigative and ethical relationship to information. Basic skills pertinent to a functioning civil society can be taught and practiced in the political theory classroom, including what Snyder so simply summarizes as “make eye contact and small talk.” Pandemic delays in education and social development combined with increased use of online pedagogy have made these simplest of human actions rarer. Polarization heightens the risk for young speakers and actors. Political theory’s dialogical emphasis has a special power to develop voice in students and to create ethical intellectual communities. The small scale of the political theory classroom promises important gains for young democratic citizens who may lack practice and opportunities for embodied, reasoned, and ethical conversations. My paper pursues the argument that political theory pedagogy must be directly responsible to democratic development in young people not in the sense of teaching civics but by way of patient training in the core intellectual and social skills articulated in Snyder’s lessons on how to protect and maintain democracy. How can Snyder’s lessons inform not only the study of politics as content but, and perhaps more importantly, a current and much needed political theory pedagogy?

Author

• Khristina Hamilton Haddad, Moravian College