Many in the U.S. are despairing over the Trump administration’s inaction and fumbling in the face of the pandemic  But political scientist Alex Gourevitch cautions that we should be careful what we wish for.  He discusses the imposition of authoritarian measures around the world, treating democracy as a luxury in the time of coronavirus. Resources: … Continued


There are many ways that the crisis brought about by the coronavirus is exceptional.  But as Peter Linebaugh reminds us, pandemics throughout history have been met both by attempts by elites to extend their domination and the people’s attempts to resist while surviving.  The noted historian weighs in plagues, from antiquity to Covid 19. Resources: … Continued


Against the Grain

Anti-Communism and Anti-Catholicism

According to Udi Greenberg, many anti-Communist commentators in the early stages of the Cold War resurrected anti-Catholic tropes that had been deployed in the nineteenth century. Redirecting and adapting those tropes, Greenberg argues, played a crucial role in the effort to portray and vilify the Communist project. Udi Greenberg, The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and … Continued


Against the Grain

Race, Power, and U.S. Exceptionalism

Insights into race, history, capitalist dynamics, and U.S. exceptionalism were shared by Kimberly Westcott, Danny Haiphong, Glen Ford, and Dan Kovalik at last year’s Left Forum conference. Resources: Roberto Sirvent and Danny Haiphong, American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People’s History of Fake News—From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror Skyhorse, 2019 Black … Continued