Conservative Historian A Critique of the Leftist View of History
Jul 24, 2025
Join Professor Eric Heinze, a law and humanities scholar and author of Coming Clean, as he critiques the leftist approach to history. He highlights the need for rigorous self-scrutiny and discusses how leftist narratives often overlook their own historical failures, particularly regarding regimes like those in the Soviet Union and Cuba. Heinze engages in a thought-provoking debate about memory politics, timeline perspectives in global conflicts, and the implications of historical narratives on justice.
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Left Redefined History As Collective Scrutiny
- Eric Heinze argues the left's biggest achievement is redefining history as collective self-scrutiny tied to justice.
- He says this revolution makes democracy possible by forcing critical thinking about past injustices.
Left Fails To Self-Critique Its Own History
- Heinze claims the left teaches collective self-criticism but fails to apply it to its own history.
- He sees this gap as a root problem, not mere hypocrisy, requiring substantive self-scrutiny from the left.
Memory Politics Requires Two Steps
- Heinze distinguishes leftist structural injustice from other critiques by seeing oppression as constitutive and ongoing.
- He argues left memory politics has two steps: scholarly record and public dissemination into culture.
