KPFA - Against the Grain

What was the most powerful technology introduced into schools in the past century? You might answer the computer, or something like Zoom, or even the slide projector. But scholar Antero Garcia argues that it was the humble yellow school bus. Buses have been central to the struggle to desegregate education. And school buses are a zone — and mainly an unnoticed one — in which many working class children and children of color spend a significant part of their day. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Antero Garcia, All through the Town: The School Bus as Educational Technology University of Minnesota Press, 2023 The post The Yellow School Bus appeared first on KPFA.

What role have historians, and the discipline of history itself, played in how historical events unfold? Priya Satia contends that historians were key architects of British imperialism, that history enabled empire in fundamental ways. She also contests the notion that history unfolds in a linear and progressive fashion, and discusses the work and impact of the working-class historian E. P. Thompson. (Encore presentation.) Priya Satia, Time’s Monster: How History Makes History Belknap Press, 2023 (paper) The post History’s Complicity in Empire appeared first on KPFA.

Revolutionaries in one country can inform and inspire rebels in another. Kevin A. Young examines the impact of Vietnamese and Chinese revolutionary strategies on El Salvador’s guerrillas in the tumultuous 1970s and ’80s. Among other things, he describes how conceptions of “prolonged popular war” were adopted and adapted by the FPL, the FMLN’s largest faction. Becker, Power, Wood, and Zumoff, eds., Transnational Communism across the Americas University of Illinois Press, 2023 The post (Re)making Revolution appeared first on KPFA.

The pandemic highlighted the vital importance of care work—whether childcare, nursing home care, medical care or schooling – and the struggles many people face to get sufficient care. Would more public investment solve the crisis? Historian Premilla Nadasen argues that the problem lies with contemporary capitalism itself, as care has become an enormous arena for corporate profit, in which the state is often deeply complicit. Resources: Premilla Nadasen, Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism Haymarket Books, 2023 The post Profiting from Care appeared first on KPFA.

Our regularly scheduled programming is preempted from 6am to 9pm (PST) today for a special fundraiser. During this one-day event, we air old and new broadcasts that demonstrate the richness of the Pacifica Radio Archives and how important it is that we ensure their preservation and accessibility. We appreciate your understanding and support in contributing to the success of this important initiative.   The post Preempted for Pacifica Radio Archives Fundraiser appeared first on KPFA.

Why is the aging of populations framed as a crisis? What settler-colonial and capitalist logics are at work, and how are older people viewed and treated as a result? Sandy Grande delineates and critiques mainstream frameworks; she also advances a decolonial perspective that draws on indigenous attitudes toward elders and toward old age-associated conditions like dementia. (Encore presentation.) René Dietrich and Kerstin Knopf, eds., Biopolitics, Geopolitics, Life: Settler States and Indigenous Presence Duke University Press, 2023 Sandy Grande, ed., Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought Rowman & Littlefield (Image on main page by Dwayne Reilander.) The post Aged Out? appeared first on KPFA.

The idea that we and the world around us vibrate with flows of energy has deep roots in North America. Historian Jackson Lears argues that vitalism or animism has played a crucial but contradictory role in U.S. politics and society. On the one hand, it has been fueled by capitalism and the almost magical function of money and credit, along with the vitalist imperial notion of regeneration through violence. And on the other, it has motivated those who see humans as part of a larger animated web of life, in need of protection and defense. Resources: Jackson Lears, Animal Spirits: The American Pursuit of Vitality from Camp Meeting to Wall Street Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023 The post The Politics of American Vitalism appeared first on KPFA.

Why was the political philosopher Hannah Arendt so critical of mainstream Zionism? What did her criticisms have to do with how she understood nationalism and historical antisemitism? According to Jonathan Graubart, Arendt sought to delink Jewish nationalism from Israel’s state project; she also condemned Herzlian Zionism for subscribing to a view of eternal antisemitism. (Encore presentation.) Jonathan Graubart, Jewish Self-Determination beyond Zionism: Lessons from Hannah Arendt and Other Pariahs Temple University Press, 2023 The post Arendt on Zionism appeared first on KPFA.

Guest Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi discusses the condition of Vietnamese refugee settlers in Guam and Israel Palestine, as well as the solidarity between indigenous inhabitants of settler colonial states. The podcast explores the challenges faced by the indigenous people of Guam due to colonization and their ongoing fight for decolonization. It also examines the role of Guam as the first processing center for Vietnamese refugees and the complexities of the refugee settler condition. The podcast further delves into the interconnectedness between Guam, Israel-Palestine, and Vietnam, exploring the anti-colonial connections and solidarity between the Vietnamese and Palestinians. It concludes by discussing the ideological effect of Israel as a settler colonial state and the experiences of Vietnamese refugee settlers in Guam and Israel, Palestine.

Perhaps best known for his advocacy of “propaganda by the deed,” Johann Most (1846-1906) was a committed socialist before turning toward anarchism. What spurred that shift? Why did Most advocate violence – and later abandon that position? Tom Goyens is writing a biography of the fiery orator and influential editor who immigrated to the U.S. in 1882. (Encore presentation.) Anna Elena Torres and Kenyon Zimmer, eds., With Freedom in Our Ears: Histories of Jewish Anarchism University of Illinois Press, 2023 Anarchistories: Uncovering the World Anarchists Made Tom Goyens, Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City, 1880-1914 University of Illinois Press, 2014 (paper) The post Anarchist Firebrand appeared first on KPFA.