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Acclaimed program of ideas, in-depth analysis, and commentary on a variety of matters—political, economic, social, and cultural—important to progressive and radical thinking and activism. Against the Grain is co-produced and co-hosted by Sasha Lilley and C. S. Soong.
What role does the U.S. academic boycott of Israel play in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement? What kinds of resistance has the boycott movement encountered, and what’s happened to the academic freedom and human rights of Palestinian scholars and students? Sunaina Maira helped launch the U.S. academic and cultural boycott initiative. Dawson … Continued
What’s the point of education? The prevailing wisdom today is that children need to be prepared for eventually joining the job market, and that an investment in schools is an investment in the future productivity of the country. But what would schooling look like if the value of education was not monetary, but something deeper, … Continued
How has the figure of the comic book superhero played into left-wing political projects and aspirations? In his new book, Ramzi Fawaz argues that the reinvention of the American superhero was a response to, and a factor in, the rise of radical political sensibilities and movements in the 1960s and beyond.
Soil is essential for terrestrial life on earth. And like so many other parts of the environment, it’s under threat, degraded in a world where it’s being built on, contaminated, and eroded. Geographer Salvatore Engel-DiMauro argues that soil also highlights the many problems that the left has with understanding both the social and scientific, or … Continued
A number of thinkers and activists on the left have embraced the notion of a basic income paid to all without means testing or a work requirement. Erik Olin Wright argues that a generous basic income would contribute to revitalizing a socialist challenge to capitalism. He also distinguishes the version of UBI that he supports from … Continued
It’s been called the greatest political film of all time. The Battle of Algiers, which was released fifty years ago, told the story of the Algerian people’s struggle against French colonialism. It became an instant classic and touchstone for radical movements in the Third World and the international left. And it became a tool for … Continued
Large homeless encampments are sometimes dismantled, at times tolerated, and in some cases legalized. What accounts for the different ways in which local authorities treat homeless encampments, and how do camp residents view their situation? Chris Herring discusses the administrative logics of homeless seclusion as well as the adaptive strategies of campers.
Since its inception, one of the main preoccupations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been black rebellion. From the early days of the Harlem Renaissance until at least J. Edgar Hoover’s death in 1972, the FBI has had a fascinated fear of African American literature. William J. Maxwell discusses how the FBI extensively surveilled … Continued
Akhil Gupta sees a growing tendency to view global poverty as a threat not to the acutely poor but to elites in the global North. Unchecked migration, terrorism, and disease vectors are seen as manifestations of that threat, against which elites now seek to protect themselves. This, according to Gupta, makes meaningful action to alleviate … Continued
Movements like Black Lives Matter have turned a spotlight on the mass criminalization of people of color in the United States. But are we any closer to understanding why the American state locks up its residents in record numbers? Radical scholar Jordan Camp discusses working class insurgency from below—from the Watts Rebellion to the Los … Continued
