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Category Archives: Politics
In Media Res
Ta-Nehisi Coates tweets (approvingly, I think) that historians are “not the most hopeful bunch”. I’ve said as much myself. Among the many problems with David Armitage and Jo Guldi’s The History Manifesto is the authors’ belief that historians once had … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Politics
2 Comments
All Grasshoppers, No Ants
It would be convenient to think that Gawker Media‘s flaming car-wreck failure at the end of last week was the kind of mistake of individual judgment that can be fixed by a few resignations, a few pledges to do better, … Continue reading
The Production of Stigma
Since Swarthmore seems likely to be stuck debating or struggling over divestment for at least another year or more, I remain interested in trying to push at the central weakness of the pro-divestment argument. The major argument of many divestment … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
3 Comments
Hearts and Minds
Much as I disliked Jonathan Haidt’s recent book The Righteous Mind overall, I’m quite interested in many of the basic propositions that this strain of cognitive science and social psychology are proposing about mind, consciousness, agency, responsibility and will. Most … Continue reading
“The Child Repents and Is Forgiven”
I occasionally out myself here at this blog, on Facebook or at Swarthmore as having a fairly encyclopedic knowledge about mainstream superhero comics, like a few other academics, but I’ve been much less inclined to make even a limited foray … Continue reading
Where There’s Smoke
My main problem with Laura Kipnis’ much-discussed essay “Sexual Paranoia” is the excluded middle it outlines. Practicioners of dialectic modes of argument often claim that this approach is necessary in order to locate and recommend that middle. It’s the “Untouchables” … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Politics
5 Comments
The People Perish
The trouble with Hilary Clinton’s email is not Hilary Clinton’s email. The trouble is that the Democratic Party is apparently committed beyond recall to nominating an individual to be President whose entire strategic vision is: a) I’m owed. It’s my … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
4 Comments
The Trouble With Sustainability II: A Dynamic Steady-State?
Have human beings ever built organizations that can sustain projects over very long time spans? Yes. Cathedral-building is a classic example. The joint-stock company, at least in its earliest iterations, is another example that many would cite. Organizations that by … Continue reading
The Trouble With Sustainability I: The Clock of the Short Now
More than a week later, I continue to really think about our recent “sustainability charrette” at Swarthmore College led by folks like David Orr, Hunter Lovins, John Fullerton and Nikki Silvestri. At least one of the things I keep thinking … Continue reading
Bourdieu + Foucault Spell Trouble For Us All
I wonder sometimes if one of the perverse consequences of the general dissemination of Bourdieu-style analysis of culture and habitus has been to inform and strengthen conservative attacks on public support for education, the arts, and so on. Especially when … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Politics
4 Comments