Politics Archives - Page 97 of 112

Blue Monday

The Whole World Is Watching?

Thoughts on police violence in the streets of Bucharest and the streets of Portland, Charlottesville, Ferguson, and Chicago 1968

August 13, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues.” -Duke Ellington This past Friday night, August 10, a major demonstration was held at Piata Victorei in downtown Bucharest to protest the widespread corruption of the SPD government, led by Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, and by the ...

Feature

The Electoral Success of the Radical Right in Europe

Why are the Radical Right better at “capitalizing” on ‘Populism’ than the Radical Left?

August 7, 2018 • by Valerio Alfonso Bruno and James F. Downes

Contemporary Radical Right parties have tended to outperform Radical Left parties electorally in Europe, particularly in national parliamentary (legislative) elections during the post-economic crisis period. However, it is not clear why this is the case. Given the context of growing dissatisfaction towards the democratic establishment in which contemporary populism developed, ...

The Electoral Success of the Radical Right in Europe

Blue Monday

Compared to What? A Very Dark Thought about November

(and an electrifying and enduring song of resistance)

August 6, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday, August 2, the daily Lie Fest otherwise known as the Sarah Huckabee Sanders White House press briefing featured the country’s five top intelligence officials, who individually and collectively announced to the world that ...

Compared to What? A Very Dark Thought about November

North America

Right on Ron

Remembering the former California Congressman

July 31, 2018 • by John Lawrence

Ron Dellums was elected to Congress during my first few months in Berkeley, where I was studying for a Ph.D. in American History. For someone who had grown up very involved in electoral politics, and then had his commitment soured by the horror of Vietnam, Dellums provided an extraordinary transition ...

Blue Monday

Of Summits, Blowhards, and Hard Blowing

Thoughts on Trump, treason, and defending democracy

July 23, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington In the wake of Donald Trump’s recent Helsinki “summit” with Vladimir Putin, which followed quickly on the heels of Trump’s disastrous meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, talk of “treason” is in the air. To ...

The Media

CFP: Media, Technology, and Democracy in Historical Context

A Media & Democracy Workshop in New York City

July 23, 2018 • by James Kirwan

Introduction If you consult recent headlines, the news media is in crisis, and the problems are manifold: disruptive changes to media technology, the spread of misleading news, and anonymous harassment of public figures are causing serious concerns about the quality and trajectory of our democracy and the place of the news ...

CFP: Media, Technology, and Democracy in Historical Context

Blue Monday

Confirmation

Timing is everything in politics – and the fight against Trump’s SCOTUS nominee is political

July 16, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington In the coming weeks and perhaps months much political contention in the U.S. will center on the Senate confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme ...

Democracy

Revolution, Democracy, and Restoration Revisited

In Poland and beyond

July 11, 2018 • by Elzbieta Matynia

To be sure, the time is out of joint, and we feel as lost as Hamlet does when he bursts out: Oh, that ever I was born to set it right! Indeed, things appear not as they ought to, and one wonders how to set them right. Although this is a view from afar, painted ...

Revolution, Democracy, and Restoration Revisited

Blue Monday

Both Directions Together

Improvising the greatness we need in these dark times

July 9, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington I’ve been writing the “Blue Monday” column for around six months now. Each week is a new situation, a new political experience to endure and a new writing challenge to surmount. In recent weeks I ...

Democracy

Democracy and the Uterus

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Bodily Autonomy

July 6, 2018 • by Maria Bucur

I was born out of a policy that forbade women to have control over their bodies until they raised 4 children. Under communist Romania, starting in 1967 and until 1989, many babies were born because women were refused control over their sexuality and abortion was made illegal. Most women wanted ...

Blue Monday

God Bless the Child?

Reflections on Families Belong Together, Trumpism, and the politics of resistance

July 2, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington While recent primaries have furnished some reason for modest hopefulness (see for example my piece last week on the primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), in a broader sense recent political developments have further darkened the already dark ...

Feature

Irony and Historical Detachment

Analysis/discussion of pastiche in social media

June 29, 2018 • by Lindsay Parkhowell

This second interpretation is what I want to focus on. I want to show that instead of being a form of humor the graffiti in this image is representative of a strain of urbane, ironic detachment that has become pervasive in Anglophone cultures over the past decades. I want to ...