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A Brief History of Occupy Wall Street ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG NEW YORK OFFICE by Ethan Earle Table of Contents
A Brief History of Occupy Wall Street ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG NEW YORK OFFICE By Ethan Earle Table of Contents Spontaneity and Organization. By the Editors................................................................................1 A Brief History of Occupy Wall Street....................................................2 By Ethan Earle The Beginnings..............................................................................................................................2 Occupy Wall Street Goes Viral.....................................................................................................4 Inside the Occupation..................................................................................................................7 Police Evictions and a Winter of Discontent..............................................................................9 How to Occupy Without an Occupation...................................................................................10 How and Why It Happened........................................................................................................12 The Impact of Occupy.................................................................................................................15 The Future of OWS.....................................................................................................................16 Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York Office, November 2012 Editors: Stefanie Ehmsen and Albert Scharenberg Address: 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114, -
Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal Volume 5 Issue 2 Article 8 August 2010 Book Review: Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and The Triumph of Spectacle Herb Hirsch Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp Recommended Citation Hirsch, Herb (2010) "Book Review: Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and The Triumph of Spectacle," Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 5: Iss. 2: Article 8. Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol5/iss2/8 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Book Review Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and The Triumph of Spectacle. New York: Nation Books, 2009. Pp. 232, cloth, $24.95. Reviewed by Herb Hirsch, Professor of Political Science, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University; Co-Editor, Genocide Studies and Prevention At first glance, a book that is a critical analysis of US culture might appear not be relevant to the study and prevention of genocide. This would be a profound mistake. Chris Hedges’ analysis is not only applicable but important. Hedges, author of the National Book Critics Circle–nominated War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), has given those who consider themselves genocide scholars much to think about and to apply to their concerns. -
Black-Jewish Coalition” Unraveled: Where Does Israel Fit?
The “Black-Jewish Coalition” Unraveled: Where Does Israel Fit? A Master’s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program Professors Ellen Smith and Jonathan Krasner Ph.D., Advisors In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Leah Robbins May 2020 Copyright by Leah Robbins 2020 Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by the generous and thoughtful guidance of my two advisors, Professors Ellen Smith and Jonathan Krasner. Their content expertise, ongoing encouragement, and loving pushback were invaluable to the work. This research topic is complex for the Jewish community and often wrought with pain. My advisors never once questioned my intentions, my integrity as a researcher, or my clear and undeniable commitment to the Jewish people of the past, present, and future. I do not take for granted this gift of trust, which bolstered the work I’m so proud to share. I am also grateful to the entire Hornstein community for making room for me to show up in my fullness, and for saying “yes” to authentically wrestle with my ideas along the way. It’s been a great privilege to stretch and grow alongside you, and I look forward to continuing to shape one another in the years to come. iii ABSTRACT The “Black-Jewish Coalition” Unraveled: Where Does Israel Fit? A thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts By Leah Robbins Fascination with the famed “Black-Jewish coalition” in the United States, whether real or imaginary, is hardly a new phenomenon of academic interest. -
Power and the Idealists: Or, the Passion of Joschka Fischer and Its Aftermath by Paul Berman, Soft Skull Press, 2005, 311 Pp
Power and the Idealists: Or, The Passion of Joschka Fischer and its Aftermath by Paul Berman, Soft Skull Press, 2005, 311 pp. Philip Spencer Paul Berman’s latest book is remarkable. It is partly a collective biography, partly a work of contemporary history, and partly a political essay and argument about what has happened to the radical left over the past 30 years. It examines political and ethical issues of the utmost seriousness and challenges all of us on the left at the deepest level. It is also, one has to say, an extraordinarily well-written book, and hard to put down once you have started. Some of this has to do with the cast of characters that Berman assembles, all of whom committed themselves in various ways to the radical cause in their youth, and who have largely never given up on these commitments, even as they have had to come to terms with disappointment, dismay and, let it be said, betrayal, not least by many of their erstwhile comrades. Berman describes – in prose worthy of a novelist – the political odyssey of many of the 68’ers ‘from radical leftism to liberal anti-totalitarianism.’ Yet Berman is not engaged in hagiography. He shows how each has made mistakes and had to learn (often the hard way). They have argued with each other and with themselves at almost every stage, sometimes losing friends in the process, exposing themselves to vilification and abuse, their motives as much as their judgements impugned. And it is with the question of motive that Berman’s account really commences. -
Political Islam: a 40 Year Retrospective
religions Article Political Islam: A 40 Year Retrospective Nader Hashemi Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA; [email protected] Abstract: The year 2020 roughly corresponds with the 40th anniversary of the rise of political Islam on the world stage. This topic has generated controversy about its impact on Muslims societies and international affairs more broadly, including how governments should respond to this socio- political phenomenon. This article has modest aims. It seeks to reflect on the broad theme of political Islam four decades after it first captured global headlines by critically examining two separate but interrelated controversies. The first theme is political Islam’s acquisition of state power. Specifically, how have the various experiments of Islamism in power effected the popularity, prestige, and future trajectory of political Islam? Secondly, the theme of political Islam and violence is examined. In this section, I interrogate the claim that mainstream political Islam acts as a “gateway drug” to radical extremism in the form of Al Qaeda or ISIS. This thesis gained popularity in recent years, yet its validity is open to question and should be subjected to further scrutiny and analysis. I examine these questions in this article. Citation: Hashemi, Nader. 2021. Political Islam: A 40 Year Keywords: political Islam; Islamism; Islamic fundamentalism; Middle East; Islamic world; Retrospective. Religions 12: 130. Muslim Brotherhood https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12020130 Academic Editor: Jocelyne Cesari Received: 26 January 2021 1. Introduction Accepted: 9 February 2021 Published: 19 February 2021 The year 2020 roughly coincides with the 40th anniversary of the rise of political Islam.1 While this trend in Muslim politics has deeper historical and intellectual roots, it Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral was approximately four decades ago that this subject emerged from seeming obscurity to with regard to jurisdictional claims in capture global attention. -
Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution
Class, Race and Corporate Power Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 2 2021 Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution Chris Wright [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Wright, Chris (2021) "Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution," Class, Race and Corporate Power: Vol. 9 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. DOI: 10.25148/CRCP.9.1.009647 Available at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol9/iss1/2 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts, Sciences & Education at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Class, Race and Corporate Power by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution Abstract In the twenty-first century, it is time that Marxists updated the conception of socialist revolution they have inherited from Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Slogans about the “dictatorship of the proletariat” “smashing the capitalist state” and carrying out a social revolution from the commanding heights of a reconstituted state are completely obsolete. In this article I propose a reconceptualization that accomplishes several purposes: first, it explains the logical and empirical problems with Marx’s classical theory of revolution; second, it revises the classical theory to make it, for the first time, logically consistent with the premises of historical materialism; third, it provides a (Marxist) theoretical grounding for activism in the solidarity economy, and thus partially reconciles Marxism with anarchism; fourth, it accounts for the long-term failure of all attempts at socialist revolution so far. -
The Prisoner Intellectuals
Published on The New Republic (http://www.tnr.com) The Prisoner Intellectuals • Paul Berman • May 5, 2010 | 6:34 pm Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth Century Skeptic By Michael Scammell (Random House, 689 pp., $40) I. The opening pages of Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon are thrilling to read. In a very few sentences, Koestler managed to wrap his arms around one of the huge and mysterious philosophical master-themes of the last two centuries, and, in a muscular feat of poetic compression, to reduce his giant theme to a handful of simple images: The cell door slammed behind Rubashov. He remained leaning against the door for a few seconds, and lit a cigarette. On the bed to his right lay two fairly clean blankets, and the straw mattress looked newly filled. The wash-basin to his left had no plug, but the trap functioned. The can next to it had been freshly disinfected, it did not smell. The walls on both sides were of solid brick, which would stifle the sound of tapping, but where the heating and drain pipe penetrated it, it had been plastered and resounded quite well; besides, the heating pipe itself seemed to be noise-conducting. The window started at eye- level. And Rubashov observes the vista beyond the window bars: the snow, the moon, the Milky Way, a marching sentry, the yellow light of electric lanterns. You will remember that Rubashov is a hardened militant of the Communist revolution. In the old days, when he was a high-ranking commissar, he used to enforce Communist discipline on the party rank-and-file in different parts of the world, in the interest of the Soviet Union. -
'THE WAGES of REBELLION' by CHRIS HEDGES. by Alan Roxburgh Journal of Missional Practice
BOOK REVIEW: 'THE WAGES OF REBELLION' BY CHRIS HEDGES. By Alan Roxburgh Journal of Missional Practice BOOK REVIEW: 'THE WAGES OF REBELLION' BY CHRIS HEDGES. Review of The Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt, by Chris Hedges, (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2015). Events across the West, such as the 2008 economic crisis, Brexit, terrorist attacks and the recent US Presidential election are raising huge questions about the state of what we call the West. In the midst of https://journalofmissionalpractice.com/wages-of-rebellion/ Page 1 of 6 BOOK REVIEW: 'THE WAGES OF REBELLION' BY CHRIS HEDGES. By Alan Roxburgh Journal of Missional Practice these events has come a widespread sense of disorientation as well as a loss of confidence in established systems of social, political and economic life. Increasing numbers of people on the left and the right are experiencing an unnerving belief that the world put together in the West since the end of W.W.2 is unraveling. Something big is afoot. In the words of one Nobel Laureate ‘the times, they are a- changin’.’ Citizens are unsure about what it all means. A world that used to make sense no longer does. In North America there is a continuous analysis that seeks to make sense of what is happening. Varieties of books and articles are pouring out in the multiple attempts to provide explanations for unprecedented times. One of those books is Chris Hedges’ The Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt (Knopf Canada, 2015). This book is a part of this growing literature calling for radical change. -
Camus' Catch: How Democracies Can Defeat Totalitarian Political Islam
Camus’ Catch: How democracies can defeat Totalitarian Political Islam Alan Johnson Editor’s Note: This is a version of a speech given at a conference organised by MedBridge Strategy Center, Camus: Moral Clarity in an Age of Terror, in Paris, 25 February, 2006. …the Cold War was fought with not only weapons that were military or intelligence based; it was fought through newspapers, journals, culture, the arts, literature. It was fought not just through governments but through foundations, trusts, civil society and civic organisations. Indeed we talked of a cultural Cold War – a Cold War of ideas and values – and one in which the best ideas and values eventually triumphed. And it is by power of argument, by debate and by dialogue that we will, in the long term, expose and defeat this extremist threat and we will have to argue not just against terrorism and terrorists but openly argue against the violent perversion of a peaceful religious faith. it is … necessary to take these ideas head on – a global battle for hearts and minds, and that will mean debate, discussion and dialogue through media, culture, arts, and literature. And not so much through governments, as through civil society and civic culture – in partnership with moderate Muslims and moderates everywhere – as globally we seek to isolate extremists from moderates. (Gordon Brown, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, February 13 2006) I speak today from the democratic left and, mainly, about the left. But I am seeking interlocutors from, and alliances with, the much wider set of democratic and liberal traditions represented at this conference. -
Bernie out of the Closet: Sanders' Longstanding Deal with The
Bernie Out of the Closet: Sanders’ Longstanding Deal with the Democrats Paul Street, CounterPunch | Jul 21, 2015 I am glad that the left intellectual and activist Chris Hedges does not support the Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. As Hedges explained in a recent interview on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, Sanders’ candidacy lends undeserved credibility to the thoroughly corporatized Democratic Party. Sanders has pledged that he will support the corporatist military hawk Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general presidential election. Sanders stirs up legitimate progressive energy and popular anger and then “funnels it back into a dead political system,” Hedges observes. Sanders fails to confront the American Empire and military state, and, Hedges adds, has unforgivably “abandoned the Palestinians and given carte blanche to Israel.” I agree on all scores. Hedges’ reasoning is consistent with my own recent writings on interviews on the Sanders presidential sensation. I do, however, want to raise one quibble with Hedges on Sanders’ history – a difference that makes Hedges’ case against Sanders even stronger. “I don’t understand,” Hedges told Nader: “He [Sanders] fought the Democratic establishment in Vermont his entire career. Now he has sold out to it.” Sanders’ 1990 Deal with the Dems Sanders did not “f[i]ght the Democratic establishment in Vermont his entire career.” As the left University of Vermont philosopher Will Miller noted in a 1999 essay recounting left peace activists’ occupation of then U.S. Congressman Bernie Sanders’ Burlington, Vermont office to protest Sanders’ support of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the ongoing U.S. -
The 10 Best Chris Hedges Columns of 2018
WELCOME SUBSCRIBE LOGIN DEC 26, 2018 OPINION | TD ORIGINALS The 10 Best Chris Hedges Columns of 2018 Mr. Fish / Truthdig If only Chris Hedges weren’t so right all the time. The Truthdig columnist’s frequent displays of prescience have bordered on out-and-out clairvoyance at times, as he has spotted developments such as the rise of hard-right populism (to name just one example) so far in advance. DIG THIS While that capacity makes him an especially capable and vital writer, one who not only registers shifts but also shapes the cultural conversations around them, it frequently means that readers had better strap in before taking in his latest essay. Clearly, Truthdig readers were there for it all over the last year, tuning in weekly for the reality checks Hedges was uniquely able to provide in his pieces. He fixed his sights on what many others in the media treated as the most glaring problem with which the U.S., if not the international community, was faced: President Donald Trump. But for Hedges, the current occupant of the Oval Office didn’t serve as a catch-all for the country’s political woes, nor did Trump’s considerable presence obstruct Hedges’ view of many other critical issues calling out for attention. Below is an incomplete list of what we consider to be Hedges’ most exemplary work in 2018. Only the top story was chosen according to more tangible metrics like traffic, number of comments, and other parameters commonly referred to under the general heading of “analytics.” The rest we chose to highlight the impressive range of topics Hedges tackled — some that received, at best, passing attention from mainstream outlets when they were given any airtime or column inches at all. -
Curriculum Vitae: Jeffrey William Sommers
Sommers, Jeffrey William CURRICULUM VITAE: JEFFREY WILLIAM SOMMERS Career summary Research is focused on ‘spatial fixes’ to the long and short crises of global capital accumulation. This has centered on the role played by the Baltic states as the drain for both commodities and capital from the former Soviet Union to global markets in the context of a wider international political economy. In the case of capital flows the Baltic states (chiefly Latvia) are examined as offshore banking centers facilitating ‘tax dumping’ attracting capital from points both east and west that works to undermine social systems formerly constructed by the Soviet bloc and Bretton Woods social democracies alike. Other research centers on the political economy of austerity. Additional research has been conducted on the political economy of labor migration within and into the European Union. Further research centers on the political economy of Africa’s (and its Diaspora) accelerated integration into new networks of accumulation (chiefly from the Indian Ocean). Past research focuses on the political economy of 19th and early 20th century US relations with Haiti. Publications are both individual-authored and collaborative interdisciplinary monographs, along with international peer-reviewed journal articles, published and in progress. Interdisciplinary methodological research employing qualitative approaches (interviews and archival work) while making use of extant quantitative data sets. Work experience, program building, and grants include: Fulbright PhD research award and extension, 1999-2001. Fulbright work conducted at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) and Center for European and Transition Studies (2003-2005). Organized World Affairs Seminar, launched Silk Roads Project on Eurasian Transit, and created Andre Gunder Frank Memorial Library (SSE Riga).