How vulnerable are cities to the weather extremes unleashed by climate change? To what extent do rising sea levels and the “heat-island effect” threaten urban areas? Ashley Dawson contends that while contemporary urban life is increasingly fragile and risky, grassroots efforts to protect communities while addressing social inequities deserve our attention. Ashley Dawson, Extreme Cities: … Continued


Against the Grain

Food, Agriculture, and Capitalist Development

If what Eric Holt-Giménez calls our current corporate food regime is neither equitable nor resilient, then how do we go about changing or replacing it? Our starting point, says Holt-Giménez, must be to understand capitalism as a system and capitalism’s history as an evolving set of agendas and practices. He examines the role of agriculture … Continued


How is radical memory transmitted from generation to generation? How does that transmission frequently fail — and how might it better succeed? Anthropologist and veteran radical Phil Cohen discusses the politics of remembrance and archiving, from the Sixties to the present. Resources: Livingmaps May Day Rooms Phil Cohen, Archive That, Comrade! Left Legacies and the … Continued


In 2009, the mainstream, but democratically-elected government of Honduras was overthrown in a coup that was backed by the United States.  Probably no surprise there: the US has a long history of supporting repressive regimes in that country.  But what was surprising, medical anthropologist Adrienne Pine argues, was the response of the until-then fairly quiescent … Continued


Against the Grain

Mass Education and the Authoritarian Mind

Authoritarianism, wrote Erich Fromm, is not just about dominating and controlling others; it’s also about subordinating oneself to a “great” person, institution, or idea. In the eyes of John Elmore, traditional, compulsory mass schooling in the U.S. fosters the development of authoritarian personality characteristics in young people who, later in life, may enable, or actively … Continued


The so-called logistics revolution has changed the way capitalists operate. As corporations have embraced a model of lean, flexible, just-in-time production, they have made their operations more profitable and have disempowered workers all along the supply chain. But, as Jasper Bernes explains, these innovations have simultaneously heightened the vulnerability of retailers and other businesses to … Continued