Tempest Tossed Episode 8

Inciting Fear: Trump and the ‘Caravan’–a conversation with Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute

According to Donald Trump, a group of several thousand Hondurans fleeing violence and poverty who are on foot and 1000 miles from the US border are a threat to US national security and sovereignty. Who is part of the "caravan"? Why have they left Honduras? What are their prospects for ...
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The Pronoun “O” and the Poetics of Turkish Translation

An excerpt from a new translated volume of Aslı Erdoğan’s short stories

The passage below is an excerpt from Sevinç Türkkan’s new translation of Aslı Erdoğan’s volume of short stories,The Stone Building and Other Places. It is accompanied by an interview with the translator in which she discusses the joys and challenges of translating from Turkish to English. Erdoğan is a well-known ...
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The Pronoun “O” and the Poetics of Turkish Translation

Protect Mueller

Demonstrations in Washington show unwavering support for Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Progressive groups called for protests throughout the nation to demand that President Trump not interfere with the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian attempts to affect US elections.​ ​The effort to SAVE MUELLER was prompted by the forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on November 7, the day ...
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Protect Mueller

Are the Arts a Critical Facet of Social Research?

At The New School, artists have shaped the institution’s agenda

This vertical is called New School Histories not just because there is an embarrassment of riches, but because these legacies don’t all fit into one story. A case in point is the extraordinary and unplanned efflorescence of the arts at The New School in the 1920s and 1930s. The school’s first slate ...
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Are the Arts a Critical Facet of Social Research?

Gender Ideology and the Brazilian Elections

Bolsonaro represents a hegemonic, masculine, and violent form of inhabiting the world

Jair Bolsonaro, the recently elected Brazilian president, is now well known, both nationally and internationally, for his misogynistic and homophobic declarations. During a parliamentary debate in 2014, Bolsonaro told one of the few women members of Parliament, Deputy Maria do Rosário, that he would not rape her because she was too ugly ...
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Gender Ideology and the Brazilian Elections

Help! Being #AgainstTrump is Not Easy

Charting the future of democratic politics in light of Tuesday’s elections

Even by the frenetic standards of our extremely high speed society, the past week has been an eventful one in U.S. politics. On Tuesday a historic election broke records for voter turnout in a midterm election, returned the Democrats to control of the House and to the governorships of seven important states, ...
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Help! Being #AgainstTrump is Not Easy

Constructing the Neoliberal-Neoconservative Alliance in Israel

The Role of American-funded Think Tanks

On October 15, 2010 Roger Hertog, Chairman of the New York based Tikvah Fund, gave a remarkably revealing speech. The occasion was his acceptance of the William E. Simon Prize, an award granted annually to prominent philanthropists who invest heavily in promoting free enterprise, and in the speech he laid bare the principles ...
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Constructing the Neoliberal-Neoconservative Alliance in Israel

The Blue Eraser

You can’t draw a blue wave with a red pencil

Picture five pencils. On a table. Two are red. Two are blue. One is green. Move one of each color to the center. Set two aside. First put the green with the red. Take a breath. Next put the green with the blue. Repeat this a dozen times. Two dozen. ...
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The Blue Eraser

A Tale Of Two Communities Dispels Model Minority Myths

Asian Americans as the ‘Model Minority’

The comparative success of Asian Americans on earnings and educational indicators has given rise to the “model minority” myth, which proposes that, through hard work and studiousness, Asians across the board have achieved economic success. One of the troublesome assumptions of this myth is that it overlooks the great diversity of ...
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A Tale Of Two Communities Dispels Model Minority Myths

Civilization or Barbarism?

The American election results viewed from the radical center

I voted! My vote was more a ritual offering to my political commitments, than a set of democratic decisions. It was as if I live in a one party state. I affirmed my support for the party. With my community, my friends and neighbors, my students and colleagues, and my family and loved ...
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Civilization or Barbarism?

A Few Quick Take-Aways

Reflecting on the 2018 midterm election

A short blog on the election; it will take a little while to fully digest the results. But some results seem clear and important to note. Obviously, the major news of the day is the Democratic resurgence in the House, with Democrats winning back the majority they lost so spectacularly in ...
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A Few Quick Take-Aways

Probing for Meaning in the Media

Gaslighting, data overload, and “Propaganda 2.0”

“We are in a universe where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” Jean Baudrillard, The Implosion of Meaning in the Media On a recent Wednesday evening in a Political Media seminar I was talking about the well-known Herman and Chomsky propaganda model -- media ownership, advertising dependence, reliance ...
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Probing for Meaning in the Media