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Category: <span>Dispatches</span>

Dispatches

Category: Dispatches

Putting Liberal Democracy First Has Never Been More Important

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It is hard to see how our current injustices can be repaired without working through and then “democratizing” these liberal democratic institutions. Photo: from original article: “Republicans understand this. They understand that liberal democracy is a potential means of serious challenges to the privileges and inequalities they seek to defend. (Photo: Getty Images/Stock Photo). During the four years of the Trump administration, I was one of those people, …

The Chauvin Verdict and Common Sense

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Further reflections on democracy and social justice Photo: Berlin, Germany – June 2, 2020: George Floyd mural at Mauerpark park at the site of the former death strip of the Berlin wall by street art artist Eme Freethinker. © Sybille Reuter | Dreamstime.com. I am relieved by the verdict and, of course, I’m not alone. We knew that Chauvin was guilty as sin: the racist, apparently remorseless, cold …

The New Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in New York

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The limits of monuments in public remembrance Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument unveiling in Central Park, New York, August 26, 2020 (Photo: Lala Pop) The tensions between public monuments and history frequently orbit the question of “historical faithfulness” or “accuracy.” The controversy surrounding the new women’s rights monument in Central Park is an example of these tensions. Sculpted by Meredith Bergmann, the monument represents suffragettes Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth …

Brazil

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Land of despair Photo: Isac Nóbrega Brazil faces two threats, both lethal. On top of COVID-19, the country faces another virus, lethal to democracy: the virus of autocracy. The pandemic is brutally sweeping Brazil. Almost 4000 deaths per day, according to official data. There is no reason to doubt that we will reach more than 500,000 deaths, that we will be the country with the highest death toll …

Citizens Defending Democracy Are Being Shot on the Streets of Myanmar.

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We should support them On February 1 there was a military coup in Myanmar. As citizens have protested the abrogation of their country’s recent democratic election–through peaceful mass demonstrations, a civil disobedience campaign, and a general strike–the military has consistently escalated its violence and repression. NBC reports that over 100 civilians were killed on March 27, in what has been described as the deadliest day since the coup …

Can The Republican Party Successfully Orbanify the U.S.?

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Some comparative reflections on the exceptional vulnerability of American democracy Photo by European Parliament This past year the U.S. experienced a transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. It was not a peaceful transfer of power. On January 6, a large and angry mob descended on the U.S. Capitol to “Stop the Steal” by obstructing the constitutionally mandated certification by Congress of the Electoral College …

America’s Political Parties

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The order shattering and the order affirming Photo by Adam Schultz The oppositional leadership styles of Trump and Biden have proved the timelessness of the political scientist Stephen Skowronek’s position, outlined in the second chapter of his 1993 masterwork The Politics Presidents Make, that the American presidency displays competing instincts. Skowronek posited that the presidency contained the potential for “order shattering,” “order affirming” and “order creating” impulses. The …

Democracy and Social Justice

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On the significance of C.T. Vivian and Adam Michnik C. T. Vivian’s posthumous book, It’s in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior, is coming out soon. This reminds me of an important 1984 New School event in which he was honored. That day, the focus came to be upon Adam Michnik. Today, I am remembering Vivian along with Michnik, as I seek to understand the challenge of simultaneously pursuing …

Guo Wengui

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Trump and the war on truth Photo: Courtesy of author. 1. On the morning of December 1, 2020, I was at home teaching an online class for Hunter College students. The subject was how the Chinese government extended its suppression of freedom abroad. Suddenly, outside on the sidewalk in front of my house, a dozen or so masked people appeared, each holding signs that read “CCP (the Chinese …

Carl Schmitt’s Comeback?

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Understanding Trump and global authoritarianism When I published the first edition of Carl Schmitt: The End of Law back in 1999, Schmitt and his ideas seemed primarily of historical interest.1 Accordingly, my efforts focused on understanding how one of twentieth-century Europe’s most creative right-wing legal thinkers could jump into bed with National Socialism, surely its most heinous political movement. I highlighted how Schmitt’s longstanding jurisprudential concerns ultimately encouraged …