KPFA - Against the Grain

Capitalism by its nature produces crises and, for the last century, states have responded by imposing austerity measures on the public. Governments claim it’s a bitter but necessary medicine to set economies back on track. But economist Clara Mattei argues that austerity is actually a bludgeon to entrench elite power and repress workers’ aspirations for a more egalitarian society. She looks at its origins — and that of modern economics — during the greatest existential threat to the Western capitalist order. Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism University of Chicago Press, 2022 Forum for Real Economic Emancipation Photo credit of Athens protest: Kotsolis The post Austerity: Guardian of Capitalism appeared first on KPFA.

If sanctuary and asylum policies and practices don’t do enough to protect immigrants, how is justice achieved? Ananya Roy’s focus is on how poor and vulnerable migrants are viewed and treated, and on what migrant movements are doing in the face of border regimes, migrant crackdowns, and empty humanitarian rhetoric. Ananya Roy and Veronika Zablotsky, eds., Beyond Sanctuary: The Humanism of a World in Motion Duke University Press, 2025 Sanctuary Spaces: Reworlding Humanism UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy The post Beyond Sanctuary appeared first on KPFA.

While the Trump administration has pointedly targeted dissent at universities, sharp conflict between administrators, board members and many students, staff, and faculty have roiled colleges and universities for much longer. Economic sociologist Charlie Eaton reflects on how powerful financiers have transformed higher education well beyond elite institutions, while burdening students with high levels of debt. Charlie Eaton, Bankers in the Ivory Tower: The Troubling Rise of Financiers in US Higher Education University of Chicago Press, 2022 Photo by Tim Alex on Unsplash The post The Financialization of Higher Education appeared first on KPFA.

The right insists — and has tried to legislate — that male and female are hardwired opposites, with no overlap or variation. But as biological anthropologist Agustín Fuentes illustrates, science tells a different story. He shows how sex isn’t either/or and discusses the complicated intersection of biology and culture, which are often termed sex and gender. (Full-length presentation.) Agustín Fuentes, Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary Princeton University Press, 2025 The post The Biological Inadequacy of the Sex Binary appeared first on KPFA.

How is it that some of the most privileged people in the world — the multimillionaire and billionaire owners of tech and finance companies — are some of the most aggrieved? Journalist Jacob Silverman reflects on the titans of Silicon Valley’s rightward turn, as well as the industry’s financing and its past and present deep connections to the military. Jacob Silverman, Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley Bloomsbury, 2025 The post Silicon Valley’s Turn to the Right appeared first on KPFA.

What made the rights activist Bayard Rustin, who among many other things organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a compelling political figure? David Stein describes Rustin’s political views, his strategic choices, and his focus on economic struggle. Honoring Rustin’s legacy, Stein asserts, means drawing on his wisdom as well as learning from his errors. Michael G. Long, ed., Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics NYU Press, 2025 The post Bayard Rustin, Movement Tactician appeared first on KPFA.

The genocide in Gaza has taken place in front of the eyes of the world with little consequence. Gilbert Achcar argues that the destruction of Gaza is a watershed moment in history, signalling the irretrievable collapse of the Western promise of the rule of law. He also discusses how the rise of the far right in Israel foreshadowed the ascendancy of the hard right in the West. Gilbert Achcar, Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective UC Press, 2025 Photo credit: Jaber Jehad Badwan The post Israel, Genocide, and the Far Right appeared first on KPFA.

In his latest book, Lawrence Grossberg describes ways of thinking that have laid the foundation for the development of contemporary Western theory. Two of the thinkers he writes about are Friedrich Nietzsche, who “rejected the enlightenments,” and Stuart Hall, a pioneer in the field of cultural studies. (Encore presentation.) Lawrence Grossberg, On the Way to Theory Duke University Press, 2024 (Image on main page by Nick Youngson/Alpha Stock Images.) The post Nietzsche, Hall, and “Theory” appeared first on KPFA.

While we’re told by politicians that the ideas of Karl Marx are foreign and have no place in this country, history proves otherwise. Andrew Hartman shows that Marx and Marxism have had an a significant influence on the United States, from Marx’s journalistic writings for the New York Daily Tribune, on the mass politics of the Socialist and Communist Parties and the Wobblies, on the most radical edge of the New Deal and the New Left, and finally with the return to Marx’s ideas since the Global Financial Crisis. (Encore presentation.) Andrew Hartman, Karl Marx in America University of Chicago Press, 2025 The post American Marx appeared first on KPFA.

Jessica Mitford was a muckracking journalist and memoirist, radical activist and wit. Born to an English aristocratic family, she became a Communist and eloped with Winston Churchill’s nephew to fight in the Spanish Civil war. Two of her sisters were infamous fascists and friends with Hitler. Jessica, known as Decca, moved to the United States, became a civil rights activist in Oakland, and helped transform American journalism from of the depths of the McCarthy era. Peter Sussman, editor of a collection of Mitford’s letters, and the late radical journalist Conn Hallinan discuss Jessica Mitford’s singular life and contributions. The post Fund Drive Special: The Life and Politics of Jessica Mitford appeared first on KPFA.