Being an Activist, Having Privilege

Thoughts from inside the university

On the one hand, this line of thinking makes a great deal of sense to me. "The conversation" will never be "about me" (my own privilege will figure prominently in this essay), nor those like me, since we will never know what it is like to move through an anti-Black ...
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The Myth of the Clash Between Islam and the West Revisited

ISIL, media, and adaptation

For instance, when first putting forward their analysis of the myth of the Clash of Civilizations (Bottici and Challand, 2013) in 2009, Chiara Bottici and Benoît Challand analyzed the first 20 images that appear when the word al-gharb (West) is searched on Google images[1]. Among the findings, 16 out 20 ...
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In the Spirit of Disruptive Action

A Stand Against Torture

The protests against Yoo and the APSA in San Francisco this week revealed the way in which universities and college campuses are entangled within broader systems of violence, torture, and oppression. In other words, universities and college campuses in the U.S. are not what they so often claim to be: ...
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Solecism or Barbarism (Part 2)

The Swedish Nationalist Milieu and a Cultural Struggle from the Right

Swedish radical nationalism has undergone a process of normalization, much like its international counterparts. In Sweden, such a normalization becomes evident in the fact that, according to recent opinion polls, the nationalist Sweden Democrats have swelled to become the second largest political party in terms of support. However, parliamentary pursuits ...
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Empire, Epidemics and Visions of Racial Apocalypse

The Precursors of Contemporary Xenophobia

In the numerous violent clashes the book depicts, like the one in which Belgian soldiers stationed in consular offices in India massacre thousands of advancing migrants, murder is depicted in orgiastic fashion while officers recite the victories of great conquerors past to raise morale -- tales of crusading knights slaying ...
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Taking Political Differences Seriously

Why I Did Not Protest John Yoo at the APSA Meetings

But I did not protest John Yoo's presence at this year's APSA meeting in San Francisco, and the reason why is simple: I believe the protest was misplaced and also advanced a principle that I find disturbing and cannot support. Let me be clear: I did not and do not “oppose” ...
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Solidarity after Machiavelli

An interview with Ira Katznelson

So first, when you ask what Machiavelli would advise, he would probably take some time, though since he was a genius, he would probably figure it out: what kind of rule this is, what kind of rulers these are. But he would have been surprised in a different dimension. He ...
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Stand Against Torture

Political Scientists Refuse to Legitimate Torture

Upon hearing that John Yoo was scheduled to appear at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), held August 31 -- September 3, 2017, a number of Political Scientists organized a response. The theme of the annual meeting was “The Quest for Legitimacy: Actors, Audiences and Aspirations." ...
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Solecism or Barbarism (Part 1)

The Swedish Nationalist Milieu and a Cultural Struggle from the Right

Swedish radical nationalism has undergone a process of normalization, much like its international counterparts. In Sweden, such a normalization becomes evident in the fact that, according to recent opinion polls, the nationalist Sweden Democrats have swelled to become the second largest political party in terms of support. However, parliamentary pursuits ...
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Staring Harvey Down

A tribute to the people of Houston

When the storm moved closer to the Texas coast, my large interconnected family wove a web of discussions about storm preparations. On text messages and FB threads two words -- pray and prepare -- became the family motto. We are lucky -- not because we share resources with each other, but because ...
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