There are means, especially those taking the form of violence, that should not be used to fight homophobia. Outing belongs to them. In August and September 2020 a lively discussion about another case of “outing” of a public figure, i.e. disclosing a person’s sexual orientation against their will, entered Polish public debate. This time, Jan Kanthak, a MP from the conservative party “United Poland” (Solidarna Polska), was outed …
If we don’t hang together, we will surely hang separately In his latest Substack post, Democracy Seminar convener Jeff Goldfarb announced that we “will be developing new ways to extend and strengthen our deliberations in the coming months.” Our effort to create and nourish a “world-wide committee of democratic correspondence” began long before the coronavirus laid waste to our world. And as a world-wide network, our efforts have always involved …
The Kisan Andolan (farmers protests) in New Delhi started more than a month ago in response to three farm bills that were passed in September of 2020 amidst a raging pandemic. Farmers from the state of Punjab and Haryana had started protesting against the bills since September. Towards the end of November, however, farmers unions and associations decided to escalate their protests and started the “Dilli Chalo” (Go …
Five Notes Against Despair, 2021 Despair The Covid-19 pandemic is spreading and is ineffectively controlled, as is the global political pandemic, spectacularly on view in Washington, D.C. White supremacy and politicized misogyny, homophobia and transphobia are becoming ever more virulent, supporting an ascendent right-wing authoritarianism around the world. Economic and social inequalities are increasing, as police brutality against people of color is becoming more clearly visible. And the …
In memoriam I was terribly saddened to learn that Vesna Kesic, a remarkable Yugoslav and Croatian feminist from Zagreb, writer, activist, researcher, journalist, and friend, has just died, taken from us by COVID-19. The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights had grasped Vesna’s presence well, tweeting: “Very sad to learn that intrepid feminist #HumanRights defender Vesna Kesic has passed away this weekend. She blazed a …
Turkey Poland, China, the United States and beyond In 2006, I published The Politics of Small Things. When I submitted the first draft to the University of Chicago Press, all of the chapters pointed to “the power of the powerless in dark times” (my subtitle). All my examples were progressive and secular, leading an anonymous referee to wonder: what about the politics of small things and the religious right? …
I’m a human rights lawyer, dissident, and scholar from China. In China, universities, schools and media are totally controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There are many forbidden topics that writers, journalists and scholars cannot write about, report on, or even research, such as the Tiananmen Massacre, the concentration camps in Xinjiang, the corruption of top leaders, the crackdown in Hong Kong, and the persecution of Falun …
On the selective application of rule of law principles It is said that Russia has problems with its COVID-19 vaccine: they cannot maintain stability in production. Sometimes it comes out well, but only sometimes. But such a vaccine, to be useful, must be stable. Just as with the rule of law. If it is unstable, no one will buy it. The EU aims to put a halt to the …
This piece was first presented at the “Repression and Resistance: Inside and Outside the Academy” webinar organized by the New University in Exile on November 12, 2020. The webinar was focused on discussing the rise of authoritarianism, anti-intellectualism, and censorship globally, offering perspectives from Turkey, China, and Brazil. The presentations called attention to restrictions on academic freedom and free speech in each country, and highlighted strategies academics use …
More reflections on challenges of historical comparisons Donald Trump has been to the very end true to form, unrelentingly pursuing his self -interest and his inventive version of political reality, disregarding the principles of democracy. The “Reality TV President,” the grifter, the corrupt New York real estate developer has transgressed democratic norms and challenged democratic institutions, with ever increasing intensity, culminating with his refusal to accept clear and …
