Putting Trump’s Racism in its Place

One More Reason Why AOC Should Be the Face of the Democratic Party’s Future

A naïve reader might read this and imagine that Hewitt’s point is obvious: the contrast between Presidential candidate Kennedy in 1968 and the current President, Donald Trump, in 2019. The contrast is more than obvious. It is glaring. And yet, of course, Hewitt has other purposes in mind. The first is ...
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On the Death of My Dear Friend, Agnes Heller

“Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas”

Such was Agnes’ principle: she valued her friends and of course her loved ones, but truth was always her highest value. For me, friends have always come first. Hers was the principle of the philosopher, mine that of the political. In philosophy, truth is everything. But in politics nothing is ...
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How Latinos are America’s Greatest Hope for Economic Growth and Renewal

If the nearly 60 million Latinos in the US were a country, they’d be the world’s 7th largest.

But as I will demonstrate, in 2019 it is ridiculous to divide Americans by ethnicity. We all need each other to thrive. Without the 40% of the Texas population that are Latinos, the state’s economy would collapse over time. Of course I am making these points because of the gut-wrenching atrocity ...
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Crime Involving Moral Turpitude

I took six books from the library without checking them out. Now I can’t become U.S. citizen.

The following essay is featured in the first issue of Huddled Masses. “Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT) refers generally to conduct that shocks the public conscience as being inherently base, vile, or depraved, contrary to the rules of morality...”—Immigrant Naturalization Act It was April Fools’ Day in 2003. I sat in a tight ...
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More Shootings and You Still Ask Why?

You are not safe.

Now, imagine from whose hand, in what print, on which screen you would accept to see that picture. How could you not feel revulsion? Disgust? Sympathy? Outrage? You would avert your eyes, turn it off, walk away. You would reject the thing and shun its maker. Come down hard on ...
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Lessons for Radicalizing Democracy

How the emancipatory project of popular sovereignty can invigorate the Left

Popular sovereignty is an emancipatory project to link the democratizing impulses of social movements to institutional politics. Drawing on examples from Latin America, the book provides a set of coordinates for activists to navigate the complications of engaging with formal institutions and political parties. It ultimately seeks to democratize leftist ...
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Reimagining Progressive Politics

An interview with Gianpaolo Baiocchi

Popular sovereignty is an emancipatory project to link the democratizing impulses of social movements to institutional politics. Drawing on examples from Latin America, the book provides a set of coordinates for activists to navigate the complications of engaging with formal institutions and political parties. It ultimately seeks to democratize leftist ...
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The Sovereigntist of Reality Television

The Tangles of Diego Fusaro

Have they invited a member of CasaPound, the infamous neofascist party, onto television? That sort of thing tends to happen these days. Instead, peeking out on screen is the well sought after tan of Diego Fusaro, with the camera lingering over his shaggy hair and his glaucous eye-catching look. The ...
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The Unplanned Heroes of Białystok Pride

Anti-LGBT violence displays the homophobic political and religious rhetoric in Poland — but it didn’t crush the parade.

Police officers, almost as many in number as the Pride crowd, used teargas to separate the parade from the anti-LGBT protesters. After Pride ended, some of the marchers were chased and beaten by the latter, mostly young men. The police say over three dozen violent offenders were detained. The reports, images, and ...
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What Are Iranians Dreaming about Today?

Reflections on the Islamic Revolution at 40

Introduction Almost 20 years ago, I published an article under the title “Political Decentralization and the Creation of Local Government in Iran: Consolidation or Transformation of the Theocratic State?” (Tajbakhsh 2000). The establishment of an elected local government in every city and village in Iran was the most significant institutional innovation ...
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