The mid-term elections in the US brought a sort of victory for President Biden and Democrats, including the retention of a slim majority in the Senate and suffering only a marginal majority of Republican in the House of Representatives. Avoided was an expected much bigger electoral victory by Republicans and a clear majority in both … Continue reading »
German Auto Corporations and the Holocaust: Why are Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Suppressing Accountability for their Nazi Pasts?
Many German corporations benefited enormously from supporting and advancing Nazi persecution, particularly through the use of abusive forced labor often entailing torture and frequently leading to injury, illness, and premature death during World War 2 and the Holocaust. While some German corporations have acknowledged their crimes fully and sought to direct funds towards public education … Continue reading »
Accountability, Ethics, and Integrity in the Human Rights, Development, and Humanitarian Aid Sector
Human rights NGOs are often subject to relentless criticism by those they critique, and this is particularly the case when authoritarian regimes grow furious with them for making these abuses public, demanding an end to them, and affirming the importance of justice and accountability. Non-state actors who are also criticized for human rights violations will … Continue reading »
The Inflation Reduction Act charts a pro-climate, pro-worker path
The IRA will help build a high-road green economy, creating good jobs and clear pathways into them
Publishers are blocking digital humanities research
Last fall, to little fanfare, the U.S. Copyright Office granted an exemption to a longstanding restriction on digital access to copyrighted books and movies, allowing academic researchers to bypass encryption so they can apply sophisticated datamining techniques to contemporary books and films. These same techniques have yielded powerful insights in the financial, science and medical … Continue reading »
Mitt Romney’s lonely crusade to lift America’s families
The former GOP presidential candidate is urging more support for economically stressed families, but his moderate proposal has won little support from Republicans or Democrats.
Understanding ‘Replacement Theory’
Most Americans probably encountered the insidious notion of “replacement theory” for the first time in the wake of the horrific mass murder of 10 African Americans in Buffalo, New York in May. The shooter targeted a Black neighborhood for reasons detailed in a crude 180-page “manifesto” posted online shortly before his attack, which emphasized a … Continue reading »
After Roe: Governing Abortion through Crime?
Jonathan Simon and Sarah DiMagno Last week’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), on June 24, 2022, is a stunning result notwithstanding the unusual warning it was coming (in the March leak). It is hard to think of another Supreme Court … Continue reading »
Overturning Roe: The Supreme(ly Colonial) Court
The United States Supreme Court’s history and jurisprudence is rooted in a colonial violence, Indigenous land dispossession, genocide, and slavery, but we are still surprised when, in 2022, it determines a woman no longer has a constitutional right to bodily autonomy. Why? I turned this question inward and now share my thoughts about it … Continue reading »
Dania Matos: Juneteenth is a catalyst for remembering our national commitments to freedom, liberty and equity
“There is work to be done at all levels: our country, our communities, ourselves and our campus,” equity and inclusion leader writes
For the Jan. 6 hearings, let’s salute the courage of Congresswoman Liz Cheney
To a large degree, the success of the hearings of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection will depend on the Wyoming Republican congresswoman and vice-chair of the committee, Liz Cheney. Although I have disagreed with almost every substantive position she has ever taken, I salute her courage and her patriotism. And I wish her success.
The (SF DA) Recall and the Future of Criminal Legal System Reform
Yes there are many California and SF specific factors behind the June 7 recall of progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin including California’s easy recall rules and the outsized role of rightwing tech donors, the relatively small Black population. Still the recall is an indicator (among many) of just how politically difficult it is to truly transform … Continue reading »
Turkey, the belligerent NATO member?
Turkey’s treatment of the Kurds is now center stage — but not because allies have woken up to the injustice of Kurds’ systematic oppression. Instead, it’s because Turkey is effectively threatening to block the admittance of Finland and Sweden to NATO unless they agree to crack down on Kurdish militants. For President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeing an opportunity to further cement his nationalist agenda, it’s a bold gambit. The tepid response from NATO allies so far suggests he might be successful.
Roe v Wade reversal another brick in the wall dividing red and blue America
The U.S. supreme court’s upcoming decision to reverse Roe v Wade (an early draft of which has been leaked) doesn’t ban abortions; it leaves the issue to the states. As a result, it will put another large brick in the growing wall separating blue and red America.
Towards an Ethic of Friendship in Academic Research: A Reflection on Rwanda and Survivors of the Genocide Against the Tutsi
Since the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi and, in particular, since the mid-2000s, there has been a growing and considerable amount of academic research taking place in Rwanda by global researchers, particularly from Europe and North America. Few countries in Africa have achieved such academic research attention, and much of it pertains to the genocide … Continue reading »
What Caused the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi?
As we commemorate the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi—which took place 28 years ago in April of 1994—it is essential to reflect on the failures of many different individuals, organizations, and governments that enabled the genocide. We are commemorating the genocide because of the decisions with catastrophic consequences that U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Madeleine … Continue reading »
Personal Narrative in the Study of Ethics and International Affairs
We must move beyond abstractions and theories and broad concepts in the study and practice of international affairs toward engagement with the individual and his or her narrative, and how the individual lives and experiences that vast world that encompasses “international affairs.” In so doing, we will care more and cultivate our empathy, we will … Continue reading »
Samuelson Clinic Report on Access to Broadband
The COVID-19 pandemic thrust nearly all of public and private life online, exacerbating the consequences for those on the wrong side of the digital divide. Some of those consequences — such as struggles to access employment, healthcare, and education — are more familiar than others. But the less obvious consequences are no less grave, as … Continue reading »
Russian Universities During and After Putin – The War in Ukraine is a Turning Point
The invasion and brutal attack by Russian forces on Ukraine has brought tremendous suffering to millions of Ukrainians, including those in higher education sector. Dozens of universities have been bombed, and hundreds of thousands of students and academics have fled their homes. Research and teaching have been disrupted almost everywhere across Ukraine. The global academic … Continue reading »
Erasing the Ukrainian Holocaust site of Babi Yar. Again
Babi Yar is the single most symbolic site of the Holocaust in Ukraine and across the former Soviet Union; it captures the predominant way in which the Germans and their allies massacred Jews on Soviet and Ukrainian soil, what priest and author Patrick Desbois has called “the Holocaust by bullets”.