“Call me Jim.” That’s how Prof. James McAdams responded when my wife and I introduced ourselves as Michael’s parents. At the time, our son was a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, taking “Jim’s” class on comparative politics.
Dr. McAdams, a friendly bearded man, is a world-class scholar who reaches thousands through his publications as well as an inspiring educator with popular classes of 60-plus, seminars of 10 to 20 and a counselor and mentor who meets with students one-on-one in his office, located a short walk from Notre Dame’s iconic Golden Dome and legendary football stadium.
Now 63, Prof. McAdams is one of the world’s paramount experts on communism and most recently author of a ground-breaking book, “Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party,” published by Princeton University Press, which describes it as “the first comprehensive political history of the communist party…” Our son got a sneak preview when he was a sophomore and taking another of Prof. McAdams’ classes, this one on global communism, which became the basis for the book I just finished reading.
Jim McAdams’ interest in communism goes back at least to 1973 during the height of the Cold War, when he was a student at the Free University in West Berlin. He relates how, protected by an American passport, he’d go to East Berlin on a regular basis and was struck by the contrast between the two sectors. That mirrored my own experience six years earlier when I was at the University of Innsbruck for my sophomore year abroad. Passing through Check Point Charlie I too saw the appalling divide between prosperity, freedom and fun on one side of the wall and privation, fear and dreariness on the other.
That’s what inspired Jim McAdams in his academic career: “Once I had become familiar with one communist country, I couldn’t resist the temptation to visit all of them!” Prof. McAdams said. “Everywhere I went, whether to Cuba, Poland, or China, I found intriguing similarities and differences among their regimes.” He even visited North Korea: “The word ‘bizarre’ does not begin to capture the fervor you experience,” he said.
And so, Dr. McAdams developed a course followed by a book. “One of my goals in writing ‘Vanguard of the Revolution’ was to account for some of these differences,” he noted.
“Vanguard of the Revolution” is a terrific read. It starts by recounting social ideals going back to the French Revolution, then moves to early-19th century British socialism followed, of course, with Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, the “Communist Manifesto” and a half century later to the Bolsheviks in Russia. Dr. McAdams recounts the well-known history of Vladimir Lenin unleashing boundless cruelty and mass murder (“Red Terror”) to turn ideology into a ruling structure. He then takes his study into the global arena, showing how communism evolved into a political/economic/social vehicle for ruthless men like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro to exploit an idealistic (and unrealistic) philosophy to mobilize peoples in times of unrest and war, transforming societies and creating life-long positions of privilege for themselves, their families and friends. Dr. McAdams’ book has a happy ending, chronicling the effective demise of global communism.
The book perforce is academic and therefore not for everyone but, as the Princeton University Press indicates, “essential reading for anyone seeking to understand world communism and the captivating idea that gave it life.” That’s me and, I know, many who read this column. “Vanguard of the Revolution” provides global context to tens of millions of family tragedies – political murders, famine and for those lucky enough, immigration to humane societies in America and elsewhere. It’s written in a clear, comfortable, accessible style.
Since 1992, Dr. McAdams has been at Notre Dame where he’s director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Arguably the world’s premier Catholic university (my prejudice), Notre Dame and its Nanovic Institute have a partnership with the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, the only such university in the former Soviet Union. Both our son, Michael, and daughter, Olesia, graduated from Notre Dame and attended UCU’s summer institute. So did ND grad Michael Stecyk and no doubt others.
I saw Prof. McAdams in September 2017, when I drove to Notre Dame for a Nanovic Institute lecture featuring Myroslav Marynovych, a charter member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in the 1970s, decade-long political prisoner in the Soviet Gulag and now vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Jim expressed surprise that I would drive four hours from Cleveland for the event. Why wouldn’t I? I replied. I drive through much heavier traffic and far more hassle for a Fighting Irish football game. As for Mr. Marynovych, I first met him at a continents-wide distance in the 1970s through his writings for the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, which I translated for Smoloskyp. Forty years later, my wife and I welcomed him in our home in Cleveland when he was on a fund-raising tour for UCU. A couple of years later, in 2014, we met with him in Lviv. I have enormous respect for Mr. Marynovych and I’m thrilled that my alma mater provided a forum for this distinguished man. And he’s not alone – earlier in May 2017, my wife and I attended a Nanovic Institute lecture by Bishop Borys Gudziak, former rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University and now its president.
With a steady schedule of events, the ND-UCU partnership is not just a paper relationship. The lectures we attended last year enjoyed an impressive audience – students, faculty and visitors. They were not just one-time events. What’s more meaningful is the semester-long Visiting Professor Program the Nanovic Institute sponsors, with more than a dozen UCU professors since 2006; most recently, Dr. Sophia Opatska from the UCU School of Business.
So here’s to you, Jim. Prof. James McAdams, having witnessed communism and studied it his entire career, has written a magnificent book on its history and impact. He’s also contributed enormously toward helping Ukraine mitigate the evil consequences of that ideology. Thank you.
For my readers, I urge you to use that gift card you got for Christmas or to simply spring for the cost of “Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party” on Amazon.com. (I bought my copy at Kramerbooks in Washington.) Reading it, you’ll be rewarded.