KPFA - Against the Grain

The modern nation-state has been premised on the violent creation of permanent minorities ruled over by ethnic or religious majorities, argues Mahmood Mamdani. The acclaimed scholar of colonialism and anti-colonialism reflects on the United States, Nazi Germany, South Africa, and Israel — settler-colonial societies built on internment and ethnic cleansing. He calls for a decolonialism that transcends nationalism altogether, moving beyond the divisions fostered by colonial rule. Resources: Mahmood Mamdani, Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities Harvard University Press, 2020 The post Beyond Settler-Colonialism appeared first on KPFA.

Microwork involves the performing of short, discrete tasks on digital platforms, usually at the worker’s home and often after dark. Paul Apostolidis applies his analysis of nocturnal labor under capitalism, and its impact on worker’s lives, to microwork, for which people in many countries are paid miniscule wages. James Muldoon and Paul Apostolidis, “‘Neither work nor leisure’: Motivations of microworkers in the United Kingdom on three digital platforms” New Media & Society (Image on main page by Kulik Stepan.) The post Microwork’s Impact appeared first on KPFA.

Over the last forty years, bottled water consumption has exploded. Once a rarefied item, global sales of bottled water dwarf every other beverage — totaling $300 billion a year. Environmental sociologist Daniel Jaffee argues that packaged water doesn’t only imperil our oceans and bodies with plastic waste, but undermines safe public water even more than water privatization. Resources: Daniel Jaffee, Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice UC Press, 2023 The post Commodifying Water appeared first on KPFA.

What would it mean to have authentic dialogues around race and racism? How would one engage in a way that promotes transformation, not polarization? Roxy Manning reveals how nonviolent communication principles and practices can be used to interrupt racist conduct in ways that foster the creation of what Dr. King called Beloved Community. Roxy Manning, How to Have Antiracist Conversations: Embracing Our Full Humanity to Challenge White Supremacy Berrett-Koehler, 2023 (Image on main page by RMHare.) The post Responding to Racism appeared first on KPFA.

Sociologist John Arena explores the privatization of public schools in Newark, New Jersey, contrasting the experiences of Mayors Cory Booker and Ras Baraka. He discusses the pro-corporate agendas implemented by black mayors in alliance with white corporate elites, the resistance faced by the superintendent, and the role of students in organizing protests. The chapter also examines the contradictory politics of Newark school privatization, focusing on Baraka's ability to push forward a privatization agenda without significant backlash and the lessons learned from the battle against corporate school reform.

What accounts for the militarization of the police in the U.S., and how long has it been going on? Julian Go links police militarization with colonial conquest, imperial control, and the racialization of crime and disorder. The domestic effects and implications of the so-called imperial boomerang, Go reveals, have been momentous and longstanding. Julian Go, Policing Empires: Militarization, Race, and the Imperial Boomerang in Britain and the U.S. Oxford University Press, 2023 (Image on main page by Tony Webster.) The post Police Militarization & Empire appeared first on KPFA.

Israel’s military power has been on display following Hamas’s attack and Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza. Israel is one of the world’s most important producers of military hardware and surveillance technology, honed in its occupation of Palestine, and exported around the globe to various brutal regimes. Antony Loewenstein traces the history of Israel’s military tech sector, while Saree Makdisi reflects on the Israeli state’s cultivation of Western liberal support. Resources: Antony Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World Verso, 2023 Saree Makdisi, Tolerance Is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial UC Press, 2022 The post The Technological and Ideological Tools of Occupation appeared first on KPFA.

Much been said and written about the Sixties; what should we make of the ’70s? Revolutionary hopes were dampened and movements repressed, but did something constructive and instructive also take place? Michael Hardt considers radical struggles and conceptual developments that he finds provocative, inspiring, and relevant to our times. Michael Hardt, The Subversive Seventies Oxford University Press, 2023 (Image on main page by Fábio Goveia.) The post Rethinking the ’70s appeared first on KPFA.

What’s the value of a liberal arts education? It’s become commonplace to hear Humanities degrees condemned as a waste of money, purportedly not readying students for the world of work. Author and literary critic Gayle Greene counters that they have never been more necessary — yet are disappearing from higher education. Resources: Gayle Greene, Immeasurable Outcomes: Teaching Shakespeare in the Age of the Algorithm Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023 The post The Value of a (Disappearing) Humanities Education appeared first on KPFA.

Many U.S. military establishment bigwigs are pushing the development of automated and autonomous weapons systems. Roberto González questions whether this robo-fanaticism, as he calls it, is justified. He also describes efforts to address human warfighters’ distrust of machines. (Encore presentation.) Roberto J. González, War Virtually: The Quest to Automate Conflict, Militarize Data, and Predict the Future University of California Press, 2022 The post Automated Warfare appeared first on KPFA.