Essays

Labor

Why the Pandemic Paves the Way for Labor Reform

COVID-19 is a natural disaster, but the plight of American workers is man-made.

May 21, 2020 • by and
Every worker in America has been affected by the coronavirus. Since the stay-at-home orders went into place, more than 30 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits. Millions more, deemed “essential” workers, are taking life-threatening risks by simply continuing to do their jobs. Others are sudden telecommuters, putting in three hours a day extra on ...
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Why the Pandemic Paves the Way for Labor Reform
Reviews

Void Bitches

To be trans is to be already left out of the design of the world.

May 21, 2020 • by
If trans writers have an affinity for the disaster of the world, maybe it’s because our bodies are a disaster already. Now that the whole planet has some kind of dysphoria, maybe it’s our time to shine. It’s a ludicrous idea, I know, but one reads in these times with a ...
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Void Bitches
Economy

Beyond #CancelRent

Coronavirus and the “visible” hand

May 21, 2020 • by
#CancelRent is hardly confronting a new problem. Wages are stagnant for many, but the cost of housing is not. Rents in many United States cities are “too damn high,” as Jimmy McMillin, a failed candidate for New York City mayor, famously proclaimed. The #CancelRent movement addresses an issue-driven by our ...
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Beyond #CancelRent
Disability

One Question

May 21, 2020 • by
When Ian calls from his group home with one question, it usually involves money. Two days ago, when he asked me to buy him a Star Wars DVD, I said “sure.” Even though I don’t want to contribute to the abuse of Amazon warehouse workers, I do want to take ...
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Imaginal Politics

“How is it Going with Being?”

Some thoughts on Santiago Zabala’s Being at Large: Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts

May 20, 2020 • by
We are now hearing from a range of media pundits, social media figures, academics, and others, restating what has been painfully obvious: the crisis reveals (sigh, once again) the contradictions of global capitalism. There will no doubt be a great deal of reckoning in the wake of this crisis, which ...
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“How is it Going with Being?”
Democracy

Liberty in the Time of Corona

What does it take to be free in a liberal democracy?

May 20, 2020 • by
The coronavirus pandemic has led to the severe curtailment of civil liberties and the lockdown of billions of people worldwide. Some states’ reaction to the pandemic has been seen as more effective than others. In particular, authoritarian governments, such as China, now boast about their efficient management of the crisis and are providing support and ...
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Liberty in the Time of Corona
Sex & Gender

Believe Me: A Public Seminar Book Talk

Jaclyn Friedman, Samantha Irby, Tatiana Maslany, and Sabrina Hersi Issa talk feminism with co-executiv editor Claire Potter

May 18, 2020 • by
Almost 150 viewers joined us for an hour of conversation and readings from a new collection of feminist essays that have never been more relevant.  Believe Me asks us to imagine a world in which we not only believe women, but act as though the things they report – harassment, sexual assault, ...
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Europe & Central Asia

Letter from Glasgow

Labour renewed in a Britain unchanged

May 14, 2020 • by
But then in late April, the blossom trees awaken in the resurgent sun, their brilliant petals a thrilling antidote to the months of grey. Within days of their fading arrives the full vibrancy of the parks and countryside around Glasgow, a reminder that the trade-off for living somewhere so apparently ...
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Letter from Glasgow
COVID-19

Be Strong

An Open Letter to My Students, Children, and Grandchildren

May 14, 2020 • by
Be strong: The virus has laid bare the complete lack of leadership in both political parties and to a great extent in the media as well. Bernie Sanders is the only figure in recent times that one can call a visionary leader, proposing a future that you all will need ...
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Be Strong
Education

Commencement

A commencement that will be historic and unforgettable in ways we could never have imagined

May 14, 2020 • by
I love commencement. With my near-religious connection to higher education and firsthand experience of its life-changing power, I hold commencement as a sacred and ecstatic ritual. It is traditionally one of the few occasions where we academics indulge in a bit of fanfare and grandeur, bringing out our elaborate scholarly ...
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Commencement
Democracy

Bolsonaro’s Regime of Chaos and Fear

The pandemic and the collapse of democracy in Brazil

May 14, 2020 • by
In the third week of April, when asked about the rising death toll, Jair Bolsonaro answered that he didn’t know: “I’m not a gravedigger,” the president of Brazil snapped. When it was called to his attention the following week that the number of Covid-19 deaths in Brazil had exceeded the ...
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Bolsonaro’s Regime of Chaos and Fear
Theory & Practice

Sentencing the Present: Part Two

Critical conversations in a time of crisis

May 14, 2020 • by , , , , , , and
This seminar is part of an ongoing series. Read part one of "Sentencing the Present" here. A sentence is protean: It can describe, question, or cry out. A sentence is critical: In passing judgment, it names wrongs, makes decisions, and declares publicly. In a spirit of both open inquiry and political ...
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Sentencing the Present: Part Two

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