Gilded State: California and the Dawn of America’s New Gilded Age
Stanford Department of History
450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305
This is a free, on-campus event open to everyone. Advance registration is recommended. This event will be recorded. The recording will be available on this page two weeks after the event concludes.
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Image courtesy: Pixabay
Join us for an engaging lecture by historian Mark Brilliant as part of our Western History Lecture Series.
In his talk, "Gilded State: California and the Dawn of America’s New Gilded Age," Dr. Brilliant examines the intersection of high tech, shifting political ideologies, and rising income inequality in California. This period marks a significant turning point, with the emergence of Silicon Valley and the evolution of the Democratic Party from the New Deal liberalism of Governor Pat Brown to the “post-liberal ideology” of his son Jerry Brown.
Dr. Brilliant will explore how California’s burgeoning high tech economy and growing income disparity coincided with these political shifts. He will discuss how the optimism surrounding technological innovation both influenced and was influenced by the increasing skepticism towards government, particularly highlighted by the gubernatorial elections of Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown. Through his analysis, Dr. Brilliant sheds light on how techno-optimism and state-skepticism shaped the state’s policies and contributed to its transformation during this pivotal era.
Mark Brilliant is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Interdisciplinary American Studies Program at UC Berkeley. He earned his B.A. from Brown University and a Ph.D. in history from Stanford University. Before joining Berkeley in 2004, he taught at Lafayette High School, held a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale, and served as a lecturer there. His book, The Color of America Has Changed: How Racial Diversity Shaped Civil Rights Reform in California, 1941-1978, received the Cromwell Book Prize and was honored by the Organization of American Historians. Brilliant is currently working on From School Bus to Google Bus: A New Politics, a New Economy, and the Rise of a New Gilded Age, which examines the impact of economic and political changes from the late 1960s through the 1980s. For more information, visit Mark Brilliant's Faculty Page.