Nothing sounds more wholesome than kids and sports. But as legal scholar Dionne Koller illustrates youth sports have become increasingly commercial, unregulated, and competitive with companies, including private equity firms, replacing publicly-subsidized recreational programs. This highly lucrative industry profits from, among other things, clubs, camps, equipment, mega facilities, and youth sports tourism — exacting a … Continued
The drive to put prices on everything is a basic feature of capitalism. Political theorist Alyssa Battistoni asks then why capitalism has failed at putting a price on so much of nature, which she believes helps illuminate capitalism’s destruction of the natural world. She also argues that the relationship that capitalism forces us to have … Continued
Capitalism by its nature produces crises and, for the last century, states have responded by imposing austerity measures on the public. Governments claim it’s a bitter but necessary medicine to set economies back on track. But economist Clara Mattei argues that austerity is actually a bludgeon to entrench elite power and repress workers’ aspirations for … Continued
While the Trump administration has pointedly targeted dissent at universities, sharp conflict between administrators, board members and many students, staff, and faculty have roiled colleges and universities for much longer. Economic sociologist Charlie Eaton reflects on how powerful financiers have transformed higher education well beyond elite institutions, while burdening students with high levels of debt. … Continued
The genocide in Gaza has taken place in front of the eyes of the world with little consequence. Gilbert Achcar argues that the destruction of Gaza is a watershed moment in history, signalling the irretrievable collapse of the Western promise of the rule of law. He also discusses how the rise of the far right … Continued
Over the last half century, diseases carried by insects — such as malaria and dengue, Zika and Lyme disease — have greatly increased. Sociologists Brent Kaup and Kelly Austin argue that the surge in vector-borne disease has been fueled by neoliberal capitalism, at times in unexpected ways, such as through loosened financial regulations governing mortgages … Continued
In the decades leading up to the Civil War, enslaved people who traveled to freedom on foot did so mainly from Southern states that bordered free states. But those in the deep South didn’t have that option and they often made their journey north by ship from the South’s long coastline, with the help of … Continued
Film in the 20th century conjures up the glamor of the big screen, as well as the intimacy of family snapshots. According to film historian Alice Lovejoy, celluloid and its successors should also bring to mind war. She reflects on the history of film companies like Kodak in the making of the atom bomb, chemical … Continued
Jews and the left have been closely associated with each other for well over a century, both in Europe where the Nazis genocidally linked one with the other, and in the United States. Scholar Benjamin Balthaser considers the history of American Jews and the left, including in opposition to Jewish nationalism, arguing that the recent … Continued
The climate crisis no longer looms in the future, but has arrived in the form of deadly heat waves, enormous floods and wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts. It’s clear that, along with fighting to slow climate change, we also need to protect ourselves and the most vulnerable around us from the devastating effects of global warming … Continued
