A collaboration with The New School & the European Democracy Institute
 
Category: <span>Dispatches</span>

Dispatches

Category: Dispatches

Six Appraisals of the Illiberal Mind

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The recent history of Hungarian-Polish relations reveals two opposite processes in the troubled chronicles of democracy in Central Europe. In the 1980s, the founders of the Hungarian democratic opposition were inspired by Polish dissidents and travelled to Poland to learn the tactics of underground activism from the Solidarity movement. This grassroots transfer in the service of building up liberal democracy was contrasted in the 2010s by an inverse …

The Hyperdemocracy of “Our People”

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With alarm, we are watching the global rise in authoritarian populism, accompanied by a decline in democracy, in trust in institutions and leaders, and in rights and freedoms. In our region of Central Europe, observers are disillusioned by the failure of the poster children of the November Revolutions, Hungary and Poland, to deliver on the promises of the transition some thirty years later, and by their backsliding. In …

Republican Attacks on Voting Rights Are Racist and Hostile to Democracy

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Resistance to these Republican assaults can and should take a number of forms. The Republican Party’s assault on constitutional democracy continues unabated. Over 20 restrictive voting laws have already been enacted this year (the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights Roundup is an indispensable resource for monitoring ongoing developments). And in the past two weeks two further Republican body blows were delivered to democratic equality.  First, on June 22 Senate Republicans exploited archaic …

My Arrest in Poland

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The authorities hadn’t expected an American to be at this obscure performance _____ “At the time the circumstances of my arrest in Poland seemed trivial. I hardly thought about them afterward. But now, when I consider the fall of 1989, and the fall of communism, my little run in with the Polish authorities seems highly suggestive of how things were then and what has since come to be.” …

The history of revolutions

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Democracy in action or democracy in turmoil? A conversation with Yevhenii Monastyrskyi, a Luhansk native, historian, and sociologist. Interviewer: Simona Merkinaite, Vilnius University, Open Lithuania Foundation. SIMONA MERKINAITE: With the people taking over public squares in Belarus, we can see a very unique moment to reflect on the politics of revolution. There are basically two ways to look at the street protests and civil disobedience erupting around Europe …

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 …