CBC Ideas Week: The Shock of the New—The Twentieth Century

Two world wars, the collapse of empires, the birth of new nations - the twentieth century was nothing less than a reset of the entire world order. After tremendous upheaval the political and social orders of the past were remade, replaced by new shapes and structures, new ideas that were supposed to be more equitable, more aspirational. The results are uneven, and our societies today are a work in progress. 

Five years in the twentieth century, five snapshots of great upheaval: Ideas explores the conflicting ideas that have shaped our world today. This CBC Ideas series, hosted by Nahlah Ayed, explores the remaking of social life, the civil rights movement, the AIDS crisis, new gender roles - and the corrupting effects of power.

The Year 1973: The Dictators

Augusto Pinochet comes to power in Chile, and dictators also rule Portugal, Greece, Uganda… and beyond. The OPEC oil embargo sets the world on a new path. In the U.S., Richard Nixon insists he’s not a crook, and the Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade.

Panelists:

Luis van Isschot is associate professor of history and director of Latin American Studies at the University of Toronto.

Akila Radhakrishnan is the President of the Global Justice Center, where she leads its work to achieve gender equality and human rights. In her time at GJC, Akila has led the development of groundbreaking legal work on both abortion access in conflict and the role that gender plays in genocide.

Randall Hansen is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, where he directs the Munk School’s Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian studies.