They shut down the Las Vegas strip, when the casinos were operated by the mafia, and waged a grassroots fight against racism and poverty. The struggle of African American poor mothers for welfare rights in Nevada is a story with lessons for our times of punitive austerity. Historian Annelise Orlick has documented one of the … Continued
Interviews with two authors with disabilities who have written books from their lived expertise. Stephanie Heit is the author of Psych Murders, a poetic memoir of her encounters with the psychiatric medical system. Dr. Sami Schalk, professor of gender studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discusses her book, Bodyminds Imagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in … Continued
What happens to survivors of violence — often perpetrated by intimates — who defend themselves against their attackers? According to legal scholar Leigh Goodmark, it often depends on whether those survivors look suitably victim-like. She discusses the circumstances that frequently lead to the criminalization of survivors of violence –- and makes the case for the … Continued
Pirates are some of the most immediately recognizable figures in popular culture –- and some of the most inaccurately represented. Historian Marcus Rediker argues that the actual pirates who lived during the 17th and 18th centuries created a remarkably egalitarian world for themselves at sea, democratically electing their leaders and sharing their takings equally. Resources: … Continued
How many thinkers come to mind who combine medical training, first-hand experience of dealing with some of society’s most abused members, such as drug addicts, and a deep familiarity with the ideas of Karl Marx? Gabor Mate draws from his remarkable background and radical commitments to provide us with tremendous insights into the maladies that … Continued
How did term gender take on the meaning that it has today? How was it developed as a social pairing to the purportedly fixed notion of sex? Surprisingly, historian Sandra Eder traces its origins to a Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic at Johns Hopkins University in the 1940s. She discusses the significance of the introduction of the … Continued
In the first of a two-part series, Terra Verde host and Earth Island Journal editor Maureen Nandini Mitra speaks climate activists Josephine Ferorelli and Meghan Kallman about Conceivable Future, their initiative to unravel the complex connections between climate justice and reproductive rights and change the narrative of what construes as climate action.
Veterans are a prominent symbol in U.S. politics, evoking patriotism and military might. The right recruits them and they populate the police, private security, and often militia groups. But the struggles of veterans, and those currently working for the military, should be of concern for the left, argues Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early. They discuss … Continued
The Old Left, we’re told, was narrowly focused on issues of class to the detriment of other struggles, such as those of queer people. But Aaron Lecklider argues that there has long been an affinity between political and sexual dissidents. He suggests that McCarthyism and the Cold War obscured history that was an open secret … Continued
What if the chasm of political difference in U.S. society was all about status? What IS status? How is it different from race, gender, class, age, wealth—all those other differences? Cecilia Ridgeway explains. Cecilia L. Ridgeway is the Lucie Stern Professor of Social Sciences, Emerita, in the Sociology Department at Stanford University. Her latest book … Continued
