Politics Archives - Page 64 of 109

Democracy

The Politics of Small Things Before, During and After the Pandemic

From the Kitchen Table to the Kitchen Cabinet

July 16, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Between 1973 and 1989, I intensively studied public life behind “The Iron Curtain.” I researched and wrote my dissertation on student theater in Poland. In the late 70s and the 80s, I observed the emergence of an autonomous cultural and political life, and the development of a democratic opposition there ...

Activism

Their Violence and Ours

Attacks on property do not always undermine a political cause

July 16, 2020 • by William E. Scheuerman

How should we make sense of the political violence that has sometimes accompanied Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests? What about the state’s violent response to peaceful protest, or the dangerous acts committed by right-wing counter-protestors? Speaking on Canadian radio in the wake of 160 riots that shook U.S. cities during the ...

Climate & Ecology

Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta

A webinar view, featuring author Debjani Bhattacharyya and commenter Kasia Paprocki

July 15, 2020 • by Claire Potter

The event was hosted and moderated by Claire Potter, co-executive editor at Public Seminar & professor of history at The New School for Social Research. Save the date: our next Public Seminar book talk is on Wednesday, July 22, featuring Ted Widmer, author of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to ...

Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta

Democracy

The NGO Sector in Slovakia as a Subject of Conspirators

July 15, 2020 • by Ján Orlovský

Overnight, on Monday, February 26th, 2018, Slovakia became a very different country. The news of the brutal murder of a young investigative journalist and his fiancée in their village house at the outskitrts of the capital shattered all illusions about corruption in the country being remote and harmless. The deaths ...

The NGO Sector in Slovakia as a Subject of Conspirators

Politics

What Roger Stone’s Commuted Sentence Tells Us About Trump’s Commitment to Conspiracy

The president is covering up the cover-up of a crime

July 14, 2020 • by John Stoehr

It’s hard to know where to begin discussing the president’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence. So let’s start with what it means. It’s not a pardon. Donald Trump’s goombah is still a felon convicted of witness tampering and lying to the U.S. Congress. He plans to appeal the guilty verdict. “Commutation” ...

What Roger Stone’s Commuted Sentence Tells Us About Trump’s Commitment to Conspiracy

Democracy

Torn Mask of Social Solidarity

Law and Justice response to the economic downturn

July 14, 2020 • by Paweł Marczewski

Although Family 500+ did contribute to a substantial reduction in poverty among Polish families, its extension in 2019 to every child (initially firstborn children, except those from the poorest families, were excluded) not only multiplied costs of the program, but also severely reduced its redistributive effects. Economists from the Polish ...

Politics

Instead of Focusing on Russian Bounties to the Taliban, Why Doesn’t the U.S. End the Afghan War?

Lawmakers are outraged over a recent story alleging that Vladimir Putin may be paying off Taliban soldiers to kill U.S. troops. But why are those troops still in Afghanistan?

July 14, 2020 • by Sonali Kolhatkar

Unfortunately, this crucial point has been lost amidst the frenzied responses to the story about Russian bounties. Instead, the revelations have fed the tempting narrative that Trump is a stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah -- who is now apparently a stalwart of the ...

Politics

The U.S. and UK Are a Wrecking Ball Crew Against the Pillars of Internationalism

They have undermined the sovereignty of nations and mutilated international law

July 13, 2020 • by Vijay Prashad

Ambassador Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, spoke at the same meeting. She praised the charter and called upon the member states of the UN to bring its values into the world. However, Ambassador Craft said, “On far too many occasions, we have seen nations that are parties ...

The U.S. and UK Are a Wrecking Ball Crew Against the Pillars of Internationalism

Democracy

Domestic Violence as Pandemic

July 13, 2020 • by Maria Bucur

The resources available for victims of domestic violence vary greatly from place to place. Democracies generally tend to provide greater support to victims. This has changed with the pandemic. Implementation of national emergencies have resulted in the suspension of regular public services, and shelter-in-place orders have confined people to their ...

Democracy

Fascists in Slovak Politics

Waiting for a new chance in times of the COVID-19 crisis?

July 12, 2020 • by Alexandra Bitušíková

Marian Kotleba, a former IT teacher, is infamous for his open hatred of the Roma minority, Jews, immigrants and the LGBTIQ+ community. He denies the Holocaust and admires the World War Two fascist Slovak State and its president Jozef Tiso, who was hanged in 1947 as a war criminal. Kotleba ...

Democracy

This is Not a Temporary Crisis

Jeffrey C. Isaac in conversation with Tomasz Sawczuk

July 11, 2020 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac and Tomasz Sawczuk

Tomasz Sawczuk: The United States faces now a dangerous pandemic, a deep economic crisis, and massive social protests, after a policeman killed George Floyd. On top of that, Donald Trump fuels further division and conflict into the American politics. To begin on a general note, how do you make political ...

Democracy

Authoritarian Appetites versus Local Solidarity

July 10, 2020 • by Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer

This piece was originally published in Polish in Res Publica Nowa. The English translation is provided by the author. Commenting on the Covid-19 Pandemic, Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, recently said that Europe is the “world’s beating heart of solidarity.” Indeed, for two months now news ...