Judge Dennis Davis and Professor David Peimer
Fascination with Fascism: Then and Now
Summary
Professor David Peimer and Judge Dennis Davis discuss the ongoing fascination with fascism, and how it manifests in various forms of art, literature, movies, internet, social media, and digital artificial intelligence today. They highlight Yuval Noah Harari’s distinction between nationalism and fascism, the concept of national rebirth, the power of cultural artifacts, and the implementation of fascist ideologies in contemporary times, and the representation of memory, particularly regarding the Holocaust and fascism, in today’s context.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre in the UK. He has worked for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, New York University (Global Division) and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing in New York, UK, Berlin, EU Parliament (Brussels), Athens, Budapest, Zululand and more. He has most recently directed Dame Janet Suzman in his own play, Joanna’s Story, at London Jewish Book Week. He has published widely with books including: Armed Response: Plays from South Africa, the digital book, Theatre in the Camps. He is on the board of the Pinter Centre (London), and has been involved with the Mandela Foundation, Vaclav Havel Foundation and directed a range of plays at Mr Havel’s Prague theatre.