KPFA - Against the Grain

Can classic organizing methods be effective in gig economy workplaces? Paul C. Gray examines how methods like organizing conversations, social mapping, social charting, leader identification, and the identification of strategic chokepoints were applied by food couriers in Toronto to the peculiar circumstances of their platform-based work environment. Labour/Le Travail Gig Workers United (Photo on main page by Kai Pilger.) The post Organizing in the Gig Economy appeared first on KPFA.

Many have concluded that the climate emergency will only be addressed by mass collective action. But given the small size of the U.S. left, who would populate such a movement? Scholar and participant-activist Kai Bosworth draws lessons from the struggles against the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines in the Upper Midwest, which brought together a broad coalition of opponents, ranging from anti-capitalist to landowners. He discusses the populist side of that movement — its openings and limitations, including xenophobia and nationalism. Resources: Kai Bosworth, Pipeline Populism: Grassroots Environmentalism in the Twenty-First Century University of Minnesota Press, 2022 The post Popular Protest Against Oil Pipelines appeared first on KPFA.

Where can one find an outstanding example of decentralized democracy? Richard Franke describes a remarkable initiative launched in the Indian state of Kerala that devolved power to the community level, made local development a bottom-up process, and drew on mass mobilizations to bring to light people’s needs and how best to address them. (Encore presentation.) T.M. Thomas Isaac and Richard W. Franke, People’s Planning: Kerala, Local Democracy and Development LeftWord Books, 2021 The post Democratic Development appeared first on KPFA.

Ours is an era of breathless talk about innovation, technical change, and disruption –- all for the presumed greater good. But what if the focus on relentless innovation has obscured the more important work of maintenance and care? Historian Lee Vinsel discusses the trajectory of technical innovation and its valorization, as well as the devaluing of maintaining what already exists. Resources: Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most Currency, 2020 The Maintainers The post Hyping Innovation, Neglecting Maintenance appeared first on KPFA.

In the two decades following the end of the bracero program in 1964, the number of Mexicans who migrated to the U.S. without papers rose dramatically. Who were these people, why did they cross the border, and who did they leave behind in Mexico? Did migrants tend to stay permanently in the U.S., or did what’s called circular migration take place? Ana Raquel Minian conducted over 250 oral history interviews on both sides of the border. (Encore presentation.) Ana Raquel Minian, Undocumented Lives: The Untold Story of Mexican Migration Harvard University Press, 2020 (paper) The post Migration in Real Life appeared first on KPFA.

To celebrate KPFA’s 74th birthday, we present audio portions of the film “KPFA on the Air” as well as excerpts from Alan Watts’s legendary KPFA program “Way Beyond the West.” We also offer Matthew Lasar’s book “Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network.” The post Marking KPFA’s 74th birthday appeared first on KPFA.

What happens to survivors of violence — often perpetrated by intimates — who defend themselves against their attackers? According to legal scholar Leigh Goodmark, it often depends on whether those survivors look suitably victim-like. She discusses the circumstances that frequently lead to the criminalization of survivors of violence –- and makes the case for the abolition of a punitive legal system. Resources: Leigh Goodmark, Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism UC Press, 2023 The post Criminalizing the Victims of Intimate Partner Violence appeared first on KPFA.

In many immigration holding facilities, detainees can choose to work for wages. But is the language of choice in this context misleading? Katie Bales deploys the concept of unfree labor to explain what’s going on within what she calls the immigration industrial complex. She emphasizes the historical and geopolitical factors that compel many detainees to agree to work for often miniscule wages. Boris et al., eds., Global Labor Migration: New Directions University of Illinois Press, 2022 (Photo on main page by DIAC Images.) The post “Unfree” Labor in Immigration Detention appeared first on KPFA.

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. Resources: Antero Garcia, All through the Town: The School Bus as Educational Technology University of Minnesota Press, 2023 Creative Commons image The post The Yellow School Bus appeared first on KPFA.

The pandemic, the Muslim bans, the US-backed Saudi bombing of Yemen, counterterrorism initiatives – Yemeni Americans have faced, and continue to confront, major challenges to their well-being and their ability to connect with loved ones in Yemen. Sunaina Maira’s recent ethnographic work focuses on Oakland-based Yemeni corner store owners and their families. Nadia Kim and Pawan Dhingra, eds., Disciplinary Futures: Sociology in Conversation with American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies NYU Press, forthcoming (Photo on main page by Sunaina Maira.) The post Yemeni American Realities & Resilience appeared first on KPFA.