Egalitarianism is a thing of our distant past, or so we learn from conventional history. After a long stretch as hunter-gatherers roaming in small bands, our societies became bigger and more complex. And as they became larger, and cities emerged, hierarchy was inevitable in the form of kings, priests, and bureaucrats. The late anthropologist and … Continued
Most of us have a growing sense that something’s deeply wrong with the way that digital data is used to track and monitor us. But most of us don’t realize that the poorest among us are particularly vulnerable. Virginia Eubanks argues that such data is used to criminalize and turn the poor away from public … Continued
As much of the American West burns, where should leftists struggle in order to halt the worst effects of global warming? Christian Parenti believes, since time is in short supply, that we have no choice but to use the existing institutions of the U.S. state. And to do that, he argues, we should draw lessons … Continued
Brilliant theorist of non-violent social change or Cold War defense intellectual and strategist? Gene Sharp has had a tremendous influence on progressive ideas and activism since the early 1970s and his ideas are so pervasive that at times they appear to be without a history, just part of the air we breath on the left. … Continued
The protests spurred by police killings of African Americans and other people of color has finally brought the punitive nature of the U.S. state into national view. Writer JoAnn Wypijewski argues that for at least the past half century we’ve been witnessing a particularly punishing turn by the state, often fueled by moral panics about … Continued
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
How can we manage to think about, and move toward, a better world in the bleakest of times? Argentinean critical theorist Ana Cecelia Dinerstein talks about capitalism, the state, and our own collective power. She also discusses the tradition of Open Marxism and why we should be skeptical of a universal basic income, which has … Continued
A remarkable revolution has been taking place in Northern Syria, based on women’s liberation, ecological sustainability, and democratic confederalism. Yet it’s in danger of being wiped out by the Turkish state, which has long wanted to annihilate the Kurdish population of the region. Scholars Laura Fantone and Andrej Grubacic discuss what’s at stake in Rojava … Continued
The experience of trans people has burst into the mainstream in the last decade, although the struggles of gender variant people are nothing new. Jack Halberstam talks about the politics of categorization, generational differences, radical vs. single-issue politics, and anti-trans feminism. Resources: Jack Halberstam, Trans* A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability UC Press, … Continued
We live in an age of anxiety and crisis. And there is a long tradition of thought that liberal elites have drawn on during such moments to rescue civilization as they know it from collapse: what we would call Keynesianism today, but which Geoff Mann argues dates back to the French Revolution, centuries before the … Continued
