Civility Archives - Public Seminar

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In Defense of Civility

Why protest and respect can go together

August 21, 2018 • by Nathan Eckstrand

The hostile words and actions recently directed at Trump officials have provoked much debate. Perhaps the most famous example is the refusal of the Lexington, Virginia Red Hen restaurant to serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders – a refusal many on the Left argued was justified. Jessica Valenti, for example, has written “that when ...

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Militancy and its Discontents

What the civility conversation gets wrong about activism

July 16, 2018 • by Dan Royles

In early July, historian David Greenberg issued a kind of warning about the current state of American politics, the latest entry on the hand-wringing over civility on the anti-Trump left. He’s not alone: recently a CNN anchor chided a commentator for calling Stephen Miller, the ostensible architect of Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, a ...

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On the Etiquette of Opposing Donald Trump and His Enablers

An up close view of the problem of civility, at home, looking abroad

July 6, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

I am not in Wroclaw, Poland today, but back home in New York. This banal observation may not surprise you, but it is a notable event in my life. Over the past 27 years, in the summer, I have gone to Poland to teach in The New School’s Democracy and Diversity ...

On the Etiquette of Opposing Donald Trump and His Enablers

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Civility, Gays and Gyms, and Mr. Rogers

Past Present Episode 137

July 3, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil debate recent claims that the Left is destroying civility in politics, the LGBTQ+ history of American gym culture, and a half-century of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: When White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to ...