How do genocide and crimes against humanity arise?

As a young man, David Livingstone Smith worked as a psychotherapist and teacher but wanted to pursue a PhD. The year was 1988, and he was living in London. His original plan was to study psychoanalysis at the University of London. However, the director of the programme told him: “I think you would be bored here.” Instead, he was encouraged to contact a philosopher at King's College, University of London, who was interested in Freud.

Back then, he also got the advice to travel to Sweden, and study in Lund. But his family situation at the time made that impossible. Today, the circumstances are different.

What do you think of Linköping University so far?

Thor Balkhed

“I love it here. I’m really happy to be here. The philosophy division is really friendly and nice, and I like how little hierarchy there is in the Swedish universities. I’m looking forward to many good conversations with students and colleagues. My door is open.”

And what about Sweden?

“I love it. It’s beautiful, and there’s a wonderful atmosphere. When you move to a new country there are always adjustments, ordinary things are suddenly not ordinary. That’s why I’m so grateful for all the friendly and helpful people I’ve met. I’ve learned how to sort the rubbish, use the buses and even operate a robot lawnmower.”

How does it feel to become the Tage Danielsson Visiting Professor?

“It is a tremendous honour to have been chosen for the Tage Danielsson professorship and to have the opportunity to devote my time to research and to my new book, The Allure of Fascism.”

When Smith began researching dehumanisation around twenty years ago, there was very little literature on the subject. What did exist was written almost exclusively by psychologists and social psychologists. Since then, he has published three books on dehumanisation.

“Dehumanisation plays a role in some of the very worst things people do to one another, yet it has been surprisingly neglected as a topic of research. Almost everyone agrees that it is importan

t, but it has not received the attention it deserves.”

In The Allure of Fascism, Smith examines a question he believes has become increasingly urgent: why fascist movements continue to attract followers despite their catastrophic historical record.

“If you look at the history of fascism, you would think nobody would want anything to do with it. Yet there is clearly something that attracts people to these movements, and I want to understand what that is.”

Unlike many books on fascism, which focus primarily on leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Smith is interested in the followers and what motivates ordinary people to join and support such movements.

“I want to understand what draws people in so that we can learn how to resist it. If people understand these mechanisms, they are better equipped to protect themselves from being drawn into these ways of thinking and behaving.”

The book is aimed at a broad audience rather than solely at academics.
“I don’t want to write books that are read by fifteen people. I want to write books that are accessible to the public while still being of interest to scholars.”