Samuel Huntington (1927-2008) and the intellectual history of the 20th century

塞缪尔·亨廷顿是美国政治学的权威人物，也是一位非正统的公共知识分子。从20世纪50年代开始他的职业生涯直到2008年去世，他一直站在关于后殖民时代国家建设挑战、美国社会冲突、全球秩序概念以及美国在世界上的角色等知识分子讨论的最前沿。他的作品被证明是两极分化的，直到今天仍然如此——虽然许多人称赞他是一个有洞察力的观察者，但也有人贬低他的书是缺乏经验深度的意识形态小册子。尽管受到了争议，但亨廷顿对美国政治科学的影响至关重要，他在不断接近政治权力中心的环境中追求自己的职业生涯。这位哈佛大学教授活跃于许多私人资助的智库和政府机构，为美国各国政府提供咨询，并在巴西和南非等国的政治改革辩论中提供专业知识。该项目旨在首次对亨廷顿的知识分子传记进行全面的历史研究，考察他的政治思想，以及他作为专家的工作和对他作品的接受。这项研究将深入分析这位政治学家是如何形成他的世界观，以及如何对重大的社会和全球变革做出解释的。此外，该项目将密切关注他的学术环境和他作为政治顾问的丰富经历对他思想的形成影响。最后，要评估亨廷顿作为一名公共知识分子的重要性，需要将他的作品置于他那个时代的社会和政治辩论中。解释亨廷顿的思想和职业生涯可能有助于从几个方面扩大我们对美国政治和学术发展的理解。由于他在几十年的时间里担任过民主党和共和党政府的顾问，他的传记揭示了即使在政治阵营日益分化的情况下，政策圈仍能保持共识。此外，在关于冷战后全球秩序本质的辩论中，亨廷顿是一位有远见的思想家，而这一点在历史学家中很少得到关注。提出的传记研究提供了一个将这些辩论历史化的机会，并将它们作为重新思考20世纪思想史的一个新的有利位置。最后，亨廷顿是国际专家团体的一员，也是世界知名的知识分子。因此，追溯他的学术生涯为了解美国知识界的跨国纠葛打开了一扇窗。

Samuel Huntington was an authoritative figure in American political science – and an unorthodox public intellectual. From the beginning of his career in the 1950s until his death in 2008, he was at the forefront of intellectual discussions about the challenges of postcolonial state-building, conflicts in American society, conceptions of global order, and the role of the United States in the world. His work proved deeply polarizing and has remained so to this day – while many hailed him as a clairvoyant observer, others disparaged his books as ideological pamphlets lacking empirical depth. This controversial reception notwithstanding, Huntington crucially shaped American political science and pursued his career in constant proximity to the centers of political power. The Harvard professor became active in a number of privately funded think tanks and government bodies, advised various American governments, and provided expertise in debates on political reform in countries such as Brazil and South Africa.This project aims to provide the first comprehensive historical study of Huntington’s intellectual biography, examining his political thought as well as his work as an expert and the reception of his writings. The study will analyze in depth how the political scientist developed his worldview and crafted his interpretations of momentous social and global transformations. Moreover, the project will pay close attention to the formative influence that his academic environment and his manifold experiences as a political advisor had on his thought. Finally, to assess Huntington’s significance as a public intellectual his work needs to be placed in the defining social and political debates of his time.Explaining Huntington’s thought and career may help to expand our understanding of political and academic developments in the United States in several ways. Since he served as an advisor for both Democratic and Republican administrations over the course of several decades, his biography sheds light on the persistence of consensus in policy circles even while the political camps grew increasingly divided. Furthermore, Huntington emerged as a visionary thinker in the debates about the nature of global order after the Cold War, which have received scant attention among historians. The proposed biographical study offers a chance to historicize these debates and to use them as a fresh vantage point to rethink the intellectual history of the twentieth century. Finally, Huntington was part of an international community of experts as well as an intellectual of worldwide renown. Tracing his academic career thus opens a window into the transnational entanglements of the American intellectual scene.