Uncommon Knowledge: The Intellectual Odyssey of James Burnham

In 1941, James Burnham published The Managerial Revolution, the book that made him famous. It introduced a theoretical framework that is enjoying a renaissance today among analysts across the political spectrum. Join us for a discussion of this pioneering work and James Burnham’s enduring influence on American politics.

James Burnham (1905–1987) was an influential postwar conservative intellectual. Educated at Princeton and Oxford, he became a philosophy professor at New York University and, in the 1930s, an active Trotskyist. His decisive break with Trotsky in 1940 set him on a new path: the following year he published The Managerial Revolution, a landmark of political theory. Burnham went on to serve as a U.S. intelligence officer during and after World War II. In 1955, he became a founding editor of National Review, with which he was affiliated for the rest of his life.

The Hoover Institution Library & Archives will present “James Burnham: Political Theorist / Conservative Influencer,” a pop-up display of items from the Burnham papers, available to view before and after the event.