If any book can help left-wing activists figure out how not to burn out, this is probably it Over the past four years, a remarkable number of Americans have gotten involved for the first time in liberal or left organizations. Upsurges of involvement have happened before. “It is an old American story,” the political theorist Michael Walzer wrote in a 1979 essay. “The flames of the political Left don’t …
From members of Democracy Seminar 2.0: We are writing as scholars and citizens of the world to express our concern for the Kurdish people of Syria, whose fate has been dramatically altered by events that started with a phone call between President Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 6, 2019. Since then, the United States has started pulling out most of its military forces from the …
The case of Poland “LGBT movement and gender constitute serious threats to our identity, to our nation and to the Polish state” announced Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the Law and Justice party on April 2019. This was not the first time he expressed such views, nor is he the only right-wing populist leader condemning “gender” as a danger to family, community and nation. Similar claims have been …
Deceptions and Scams in the Age of Trump On May 22nd, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was addressing a conference at the Center for American Progress — a liberal think tank — when she laid out her position on a potential Trump impeachment. Not a highly articulate speaker at the best of times, Pelosi stumbled over a few syllables in her presentation and halted between a few words …
BJP thinks it is going to Indianize Kashmir. Instead, we will see, potentially, the Kashmirization of India. There are times in the history of a republic when it reduces itself to jackboot. Nothing more and nothing less. We are witnessing that moment in Kashmir. But this moment is also a dry run for the political desecration that may follow in the rest of India. The manner in which …
The long summer of discontent in Hong Kong Hong Kong is in the turmoil that caught everyone by surprise. The protracted protests in the long summer of discontent this year started with resistance to an extradition bill that would allow the Hong Kong government to transfer Hong Kong’s residents to mainland Chinese courts. Opposition activists, local business leaders, and international investors view it as an extension of the …
It’s Complicated! It is a widespread tendency to attribute financial volatility and economic crises in the global South to national policy makers. Despite the undeniable impact of policy choices and regulations on financial calamities, attributing the cause of economic breakdowns simply to the corrupt nature of political regimes, exclusionary institutions, or authoritarian statesmanship lacks insight into the political economic transformations within these countries. Commentaries on Turkey’s 2018-19 economic …
Counter-Violence is not Self-Defense Last week I published a piece that received a great deal of attention: “Antifa is Not a ‘Terrorist Organization,’ But That Doesn’t Make it Good: Thoughts from Bloomington, Indiana.” Over the past week events have continued to unfold in Bloomington. And so I’d like to furnish an “update.” On the one hand, my piece has generated some interesting discussions, the main point of contention …
But That Doesn’t Make It Good This essay was originally published on August 20 2019. Simultaneously, racism and white supremacism have assumed a new importance. President Donald Trump is a virulent racist and demagogue who consorts with white supremacists, praises them, gives them aid and comfort, and even includes them as high-ranking members of his campaign (Steve Bannon) and administration (Stephen Miller). The mass murder in El Paso …
Reflections on the Islamic Revolution at 40 This is an excerpt from an article published in Social Research, Vol. 86, No. 1, Spring 2019. Introduction Almost 20 years ago, I published an article under the title “Political Decentralization and the Creation of Local Government in Iran: Consolidation or Transformation of the Theocratic State?” (Tajbakhsh 2000). The establishment of an elected local government in every city and village in Iran …
