Freedom, Collectivism, and Quasiparticles Alexei Kojevnikov University of Georgia A major debate during the creation of the quantum theory of condensed matter (1920s through 1950s) concerned "freedom". Quantum theorists held conflicting intuitions about whether electrons in solids could be regarded as "free". In this talk, I discuss the collectivist approach, developed by Yakov Frenkel, Igor Tamm, Lev Landau, and David Bohm. All four were socialists of various brands who cared deeply about both politics and science. All four lived through persecution and deprivation of freedom which left an impact on their scientific thinking. One of the results of their efforts was the development of the concept of quasiparticles (phonons, holes, excitons, polarons, plasmons, etc.)