ABSTRACT
Gino Germani's arrival at Harvard University marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. After only thirty-five years, the antifascist professor no longer presented a threat to public order. At Harvard University, the underlying theme of Germani's seminars revolved around the process of modernization and the "contemporary crisis". His university classes reflected his scientific output from the previous decades. His reflections on the crisis of modernity gave birth to a series of pessimistic considerations on the crisis of the individual, which ultimately reflected his own existential condition: As modern society gradually destroys community life, it also annihilates the psychological bases of existence to such a degree that it becomes impossible to replace the lost community. An accurate and comparative knowledge of development in various South American countries was obligatory for Harvard students. Germani insisted on the importance of creating a committee on the sociology of fascism to organize a session at the World Congress of Sociology.
