From the Editors Archives - Page 83 of 170

Education

Etchings of Democracy

School desks and the politics of nostalgia

June 1, 2018 • by Campbell F. Scribner

Desks have been ubiquitous in American schools since the mid-nineteenth century. Made of wood and iron, bolted to the floor, they began as fixtures in the truest sense of the word. So firmly did they anchor the classroom that when progressive reformers finally introduced movable models in the early 1900s, ...

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Post-truth or Moral Truth?

The populist claim to authenticity

May 31, 2018 • by Lone Sorensen

“Enemy agents” is how the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) described the media in 2015. The EFF are an increasingly influential populist opposition party in South Africa, famous for their disruptive action and their calls for former president Jacob Zuma to #PayBackTheMoney he allegedly embezzled. In their attacks on the press ...

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Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism

An excerpt from Judy Wajcman’s latest book

May 31, 2018 • by Judy Wajcman

There is a widespread perception that life is faster than it used to be, and smartphones and the Internet are continually being blamed. In Pressed for Time, Judy Wajcman explains why we immediately interpret our experiences with digital technology as inexorably accelerating everyday life. She argues that we are not mere ...

Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism

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Roseanne Bombs

Social change and the politics of laughter

May 30, 2018 • by Claire Potter

Yesterday I checked my Twitter feed and learned that Roseanne Barr had finally blown herself up. Up all night tweeting about Soros and Clinton conspiracy theories (including a bizarre exchange with the cool-headed Chelsea Clinton about whether her husband is a member of the Soros family), Barr capped off her literary ...

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Incels, Mormonism and Race, and Millennials and Personal Finance

Past Present Episode 132

May 30, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: In the wake of a Toronto terrorist attack, “incels,” or involuntary celibates, are gaining attention. Niki referred to this New York Times article about Jordan Peterson. Natalia cited Jia Tolentino’s New Yorker article on the origins of incel rage, Ross Douthat’s New York Times op-ed raising the possibility of the redistribution ...

Incels, Mormonism and Race, and Millennials and Personal Finance

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Who Needs Big Brother?

Post-truth, populism, and the crisis of public communication

May 30, 2018 • by Silvio Waisbord

The following is a summary of remarks delivered at the 2018 Jay Blumler Lecture, University of Leeds. Western democracies have been in a constant state of crisis for decades now. It is hard to remember when there was no crisis. In their landmark book, The Crisis of Public Communication (1995), Blumler and Gurevitch ...

Blue Monday

Prague in Spring

A riff on jazz, dissent and democracy in dark times

May 28, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington I started writing this in Prague, on May 20, which is my birthday, while sitting across the street from Villa Lana, the home of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which for the past twenty-five years ...

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The Spy who Psychoanalyzed Me

Psychology’s long and shameful history with torture

May 28, 2018 • by Tristan Chirico

After a highly controversial confirmation process, Gina Haspel is now director of the CIA. At the heart of the controversy surrounding her nomination were Haspel's alleged ties to the systematic torture of terrorism suspects conducted at so-called “black sites” during the Bush Era -- one of which Haspel oversaw in ...

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On Recovering Memories and Truths

A psychoanalyst reflects on Jennifer Fox’s new film

May 27, 2018 • by Velleda C. Ceccoli

Those of us in the mental health field, and in particular those of us who work in the area of trauma are too familiar with the sequalae of sexual trauma as well as the grooming behaviors that go into it. We have heard many narratives and personal stories of painful ...

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From Here and There: Diaspora Policies, Integration and Social Rights Beyond Borders

An excerpt and interview from Alexandra Délano Alonso and her latest book

May 27, 2018 • by Alexandra Délano Alonso

In From Here and There, Délano Alonso, Associate Professor and Chair of Global Studies at The New School, offers an exclusive insight into and a critical evaluation of an area of migration governance that is rarely discussed: the processes through which Mexico and other Latin American countries are establishing programs to give ...

From Here and There: Diaspora Policies, Integration and Social Rights Beyond Borders

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The Tale

An interview with filmmaker Jennifer Fox about narrative and re-membering

May 26, 2018 • by Tracy Sidesinger

Jennifer Fox’s The Tale is a film about childhood sexual abuse. It is difficult. There’s no getting around that, and in fact so much of the point is to not get around it but to finally acknowledge what has always been there. But the film also offers the courage to do so, ...