Politics Archives - Page 52 of 143

Feature

Alabama Feminists Fight Back

How an intergenerational, multiracial force is organizing for women’s reproductive rights

May 22, 2019 • by Stephanie Gilmore

The first meme I saw when I logged on to social media on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 featured a picture of George Orwell, captioned with the words “Boy, did I call it or what?” Beneath it was a picture of Margaret Atwood retorting, “Hold my beer.” I then saw feminist and progressive friends from ...

Feature

Debt: A Lever of Dispossession

Case Studies in Resistance

May 22, 2019 • by Iolanda Fresnillo

“Debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa” Thomas Sankara “In modern times, debt has become a key means of capital accumulation. Ubiquitous, it has taken on a new function, as the most general category through which exploitation is organized” Silvia Federici The 2008 crisis burst and debt rang our doorbell. Spain, together with ...

Feature

Civil War by Other Means

Or: Somewhere, Carl Schmitt is Smiling

May 21, 2019 • by Laura Nelson

In a piece I wrote for Public Seminar in September 2015, I argued that Donald Trump’s campaign augured a turn to the kind of “Friends/Enemies” political imaginary cooked up by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. Schmitt was unimpressed by the niceties of liberal democratic practice, and saw politics as a Kampf between irreconcilable parties, where ...

Education

A Secret Invasion

The University in Exile and conspiracy theories

May 20, 2019 • by Andrew Woods

Conspiracy theories offer alternative explanations for shocking historical events and sweeping cultural changes. They simplify complex socio-political factors and processes into seductive narratives of Good versus Evil. They are the opium of those who believe that they are on the wrong side of history, yet imagine that God is on ...

Feature

What Will Leftists Do if Biden Wins?

Nothing, probably, except vote for him in the general election.

May 19, 2019 • by John Stoehr

Bill Scher was my guest last night for a civics program in New Haven. We discussed and debated the ins and outs of impeaching Donald Trump. We disagreed, mostly, but I appreciated Bill’s take, because he works hard to see things with clear eyes. A contributing editor to Politico Magazine, Bill argued there’s little ...

Feature

The Trap Trump is Laying

Defer, deflect and delay

May 18, 2019 • by John Lawrence

Subtlety has never been one of Donald Trump’s strong suits, and I must confess, I have been loathe to attribute great strategic skills to this most incoherent and incompetent of presidents. Yet increasingly, one must begrudgingly acknowledge Trump’s strategy for countering the enhanced congressional oversight resulting from last November’s election. There ...

Feature

Prohibitions on Legal Abortion Are Not New

The Anti-Abortion Movement Has a Long History of Criminalizing Healthcare Providers

May 17, 2019 • by Lauren Gutterman

On Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation that prohibits abortion in nearly all cases. This new law could punish doctors who perform abortions with up to ninety-nine years in prison. Doctors convicted of performing abortions will be categorized as Class A felons joining the ranks of those convicted ...

Prohibitions on Legal Abortion Are Not New

Feature

“Will Modi Return?”

The Inevitable Question from the Indian Elections 2019

May 16, 2019 • by Sarbani Sharma

For at least a few months now, most Indians in their workplaces, homes and within their communities have been unwittingly discussing the inescapable context of the 2019 General Elections. At the time I write this article, the 17th General Elections are underway in India and six out of the seven ...

Feature

What Criminal Justice Reformers Can Learn from the Green New Deal

The political inequalities reinforced by American criminal law require a transformative approach

May 16, 2019 • by Seth Mayer

The decline of America’s democratic institutions has emerged as a central issue in contemporary American politics. In response to voter suppression, manipulation through campaign finance, and foreign interference in elections, Democrats have proposed sweeping reforms to improve electoral integrity and accountability. With the For the People Act, for example, legislators proposed to improve ballot access, ...

What Criminal Justice Reformers Can Learn from the Green New Deal

Feature

Ideology is Dead! Long Live Ideology!

On the Ideological Character of Liberalism & Socialism

May 14, 2019 • by Bryant William Sculos

Something in the Night is Dangerous According to Jeffrey Goldfarb, founder and publisher of Public Seminar (PS), I am dangerous. I threaten to undermine democracy. While Goldfarb’s comments may not have been specifically targeted at me, they are targeted at the kind of socialist critical theory and practice for which I often argue (for just ...

Blue Monday

How to Move Toward Impeachment, Now

A carefully orchestrated process could help strengthen the Democrats for 2020

May 13, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

The Trump administration continues to defy Congress and to demonstrate its contempt for constitutional democracy, refusing to share an unredacted copy of the Mueller Report with House committees, citing “executive privilege,” and refusing to comply with a number of lawful subpoenas for information, about counterintelligence, obstruction of justice, and tax ...

Feature

The Rorschach Test of Notre Dame

Notre Dame fire provoked universal shock and grief but its meaning has been refracted through radically different lenses

May 11, 2019 • by Sławomir Sierakowski

Although the Notre Dame fire in Paris provoked universal shock and grief, its meaning has been refracted through radically different lenses. Whereas the French have focused on issues of distributive justice, Poles have locked horns in another battle in the culture war that has defined the country's post-Cold War history. WARSAW ...