Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research

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American Behavioral Fascism, Anti-fascism and Democracy

Dark Thoughts from Paris on a Hot and Sunny Friday

June 29, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I’m in Paris today visiting my daughter and her family for a week, and then bringing my bi-lingual grandson, who has dual citizenship, back to New York for the summer. Since he was born over eight years ago, the family has been anticipating doing this. It’s a wonderful time for ...

American Behavioral Fascism, Anti-fascism and Democracy

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Editors versus Algorithms

Reflecting on not so distant suffering at home and abroad in a moment of American state sponsored child abuse

June 22, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

My morning ritual includes reviewing my email messages, looking at my Facebook feed, and reading “the paper,” i.e. the print edition of The New York Times, which arrives at my doorstep sometime between 5:00 and 5:30. I try to read the paper first, though sometimes, I can’t. The paper arrives late, ...

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All the News That’s Fit to Print?

Reporting on the possible hegemony of the paranoid style of American politics

June 15, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

The New York Times on May 29th, the front page headline: “Trump Endorses Shadowy Plots, Eroding Trust,” followed by a subtitle: “Theories from Fringes,” with a further subtitle: “Agencies Undermined by Claims of Deep-State and Spygate.” The article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman is smart and informative, packed with ...

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#AgainstTrump

A re-invitation to read Jeffrey C. Isaac’s Notes from Year One

June 8, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

With the Donald Trump now virtually declaring, “L'Etat, c'est moi,” in his attempts to avoid possible indictment, I can think of no better time than now to highlight Public Seminar’s second book, Jeffrey C. Isaac’s brilliant #AgainstTrump: Notes From Year One (for a free download click here). The book was officially published to coincide with Adam Michnik’s visit ...

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Making Room for Democracy

On the beauty of gray, the social condition, and individual and group responsibility

June 1, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

In my Friday posts, I have focused on the beauty of gray, presenting arguments for the good over the ideal and for openness to people and principles other than our own. I have argued, further, that these are preconditions for acting together against the dark forces of our times, and ...

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The Banality of Good and Evil

Reflections of an anti-sociologist

May 25, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I want to make it simple and to the point. That’s the best way to go. But some days, as I think and write, things become more complicated, and I struggle. Today is such a day. I wanted to write a straightforward post on a straightforward theme, on mistakes and ...

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The Banality of Evil and the Death of the Author

Thoughts on social interaction, and questions of individual recognition and responsibility

May 18, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I hope we can agree: we are not alone, and even when we are alone, we are not alone. We humans are what we are as we interact with each other: no interaction, no person; no interaction, no politics; no interaction, no art, science and love; no sex and no ...

The Banality of Evil and the Death of the Author

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Thinking and Acting in Grief

Dark thoughts on a bright Friday morning

May 11, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

It has been a week of trying experiences and dark thoughts at Public Seminar and The New School. Jeremy Safran, a deeply respected colleague and wonderful person, was senselessly murdered. To make matters worse, the executive leadership of our beloved institution is fighting too vigorously in a labor dispute with our beloved students, ...

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Jeremy Safran April 23, 1952 – May 7, 2018

Mourning the loss of a colleague, a friend and a gentle-man

May 8, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

This is a very sad day at The New School for Social Research and at Public Seminar. Jeremy Safran, a distinguished professor in our Psychology Department and a senior editor of Public Seminar, a dear colleague and friend to many of us, was murdered yesterday in his Brooklyn home. We ...

Jeremy Safran April 23, 1952 – May 7, 2018

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The Democracy Seminar, Then and Now

An Invitation

May 4, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

We are imagining a forum for activists and thinkers who support democracy against the looming global threats of authoritarianism. The definitive feature would be openness. It would be a direct outgrowth of a small, international, at first clandestine, informal and improvised New School project, “The Democracy Seminar,” first proposed by ...

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The Global Civil War

Gray Reflections on a Gray Friday Morning

April 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

It’s a cultural war that here and there sometimes includes guns. It is hard to see the end of it, short of victory or defeat, as it is important to realize it has long been with us. The war is being fought as a struggle between the good guys and ...

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Dark Times, Cultural Freedom and (the) Media

Reflections on The Inauguration of The Center for Media at Risk

April 20, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I am now at the inauguration of the Center for Media at Risk at Annenberg School of Communication in Philadelphia. The opening ceremonies have been completed. The presentations and discussions begin later this morning. I see from the program a broad set of concerns, with special sessions on the Digital, ...