Democracy Archives - Page 21 of 55

Democracy

Learning to Think About Memory and Politics

Jeff Goldfarb navigated–and worked through–the polar opposites that can define academic and political life

July 7, 2021 • by Irit Dekel

_____ Jeff Goldfarb has been my teacher, colleague, and friend: our conversations about culture, politics, democracy, and activism—through reading and writing, in public and private forums—have continued since I began as a student in the Department of Sociology at the NSSR. From and with Jeff, and by studying sites within which democracy ...

Learning to Think About Memory and Politics

Democracy

A Connection That Never Expired

In 1974, Jeffrey Goldfarb went to Poland to do research about democracy—and put down lasting roots

July 7, 2021 • by Elzbieta Matynia and Claire Potter

Claire Potter: Elzbieta, let's begin with when you met Jeff Goldfarb. Elzbieta Matynia: Jeff and Naomi Goldfarb came to Poland in 1973—Jeff was on an IREX fellowship, and Naomi attended some studio classes at the Academy of Arts. I had just begun my graduate studies. But we were both interested in the same ...

Democracy

Confederate Monuments Are Not History

Like the contemporary war on “critical race theory,” these statues of the defeated prop up white supremacy in the name of a false past

June 15, 2021 • by Claire Potter and Karen L. Cox

_____ It seemed as though monuments were suddenly in the news during Donald Trump’s presidency, but they have always been controversial. Monuments to the Confederacy were contested by African American citizens as soon as they appeared after 1865. Black citizens understood these monuments for what they were: a rallying point for ...

Democracy

The Decline of Colombia’s Centaur State

By launching a general strike, a broad coalition of Colombians has invited state violence—but united to demonstrate what real democracy looks like

June 1, 2021 • by Julián Gómez Delgado

_____ On April 28, 2021, thousands of Colombians took to the streets to protest a highly ill-timed and unpopular tax reform. The law implemented a 19 percent tax on goods and services, echoing previous tax, labor, and pension reforms of 2019 which had similarly fueled a general strike against austerity and ...

Middle East & North Africa

Israel on the Brink

We just had a warning, a taste of what the future looks like short of post-ethnic politics in our post-two-state era

May 27, 2021 • by Omri Boehm and Arvid Jurjaks

_____ Arvid Jurjaks: I want to start at the current political situation in Israel with Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett being asked to form a government. How much chance do they have to succeed on this, you think? Omri Boehm: I think it's pretty clear that Yair Lapid has no chance, because Bennett, ...

Democracy

Why is Caitlyn Jenner Running for Governor of California?

Recall campaigns, invented to remove incompetent or corrupt politicians, are now a conservative tactic to reverse Democratic electoral victories

May 5, 2021 • by Claire Potter

On April 22, Caitlyn Jenner announced that she had filed paperwork to register herself as a candidate for Governor of California in a recall election against the sitting governor, Gavin Newsom. The organizers will likely meet the threshold of verified signatures, and the election is likely to be scheduled for early fall. Even ...

Why is Caitlyn Jenner Running for Governor of California?

Democracy

Putting Liberal Democracy First Has Never Been More Important

It is hard to see how our current injustices can be repaired without working through and then “democratizing” these liberal democratic institutions.

May 5, 2021 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

During the four years of the Trump administration, I was one of those people, derisively labeled "tyrannophobes" by some on the left, who focused on Trump's assaults on democracy and argued for putting the defense of liberal democracy first. Most of those who criticized us surely recognized Trump's many objectionable features. They simply ...

Democracy

The Chauvin Verdict and Common Sense

Further reflections on democracy and social justice

April 29, 2021 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I am relieved by the verdict and, of course, I’m not alone. We knew that Chauvin was guilty as sin: the racist, apparently remorseless, cold blooded killer of George Floyd. It was clear as day, common sense. But common sense has failed us when it comes to American policing and ...

Democracy

Gun Violence Is as American as Apple Pie

But gun ownership only became popular after World War II, when conservatives united to prevent desegregation

April 21, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ America today is caught in a plague of gun violence. It wasn’t always this way. Americans used to own guns without engaging in daily massacres. Indeed, it always jumps out at me that the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929, when members of one Chicago gang set up and killed ...

Gun Violence Is as American as Apple Pie

Capitalism

Up To Heaven and Down to Hell

Fracking, freedom, and community in an American town

April 20, 2021 • by Colin Jerolmack

_____ The following excerpt is from Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town by Colin Jerolmack and was reprinted with permission of Princeton University Press. From page 229, Fig. 10.3b. Fracking in the Tiadaghton State Forest. Photograph ...

Capitalism

Data Cooperatives for Pandemic Times

To avoid ‘co-op whitewashing,’ experiments with data co-ops should be co-developed with communities connected to the long history and analysis of the various forms of cooperatives.

April 19, 2021 • by Trebor Scholz and Igor Calzada

To avoid 'co-op whitewashing,' data cooperatives must be shaped by those who need them most, rooted in cooperative principles and localized data....

Democracy

Brazil

Land of despair

April 8, 2021 • by Daniel Peres

Brazil faces two threats, both lethal. On top of COVID-19, the country faces another virus, lethal to democracy: the virus of autocracy. The pandemic is brutally sweeping Brazil. Almost 4000 deaths per day, according to official data. There is no reason to doubt that we will reach more than 500,000 ...

Democracy

Learning to Think About Memory and Politics

Jeff Goldfarb navigated–and worked through–the polar opposites that can define academic and political life

A Connection That Never Expired

In 1974, Jeffrey Goldfarb went to Poland to do research about democracy—and put down lasting roots

Confederate Monuments Are Not History

Like the contemporary war on “critical race theory,” these statues of the defeated prop up white supremacy in the name of a false past

The Decline of Colombia’s Centaur State

By launching a general strike, a broad coalition of Colombians has invited state violence—but united to demonstrate what real democracy looks like

Israel on the Brink

We just had a warning, a taste of what the future looks like short of post-ethnic politics in our post-two-state era

Why is Caitlyn Jenner Running for Governor of California?

Recall campaigns, invented to remove incompetent or corrupt politicians, are now a conservative tactic to reverse Democratic electoral victories

Putting Liberal Democracy First Has Never Been More Important

It is hard to see how our current injustices can be repaired without working through and then “democratizing” these liberal democratic institutions.

Gun Violence Is as American as Apple Pie

But gun ownership only became popular after World War II, when conservatives united to prevent desegregation

Up To Heaven and Down to Hell

Fracking, freedom, and community in an American town

Data Cooperatives for Pandemic Times

To avoid ‘co-op whitewashing,’ experiments with data co-ops should be co-developed with communities connected to the long history and analysis of the various forms of cooperatives.

Brazil

Land of despair

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