Since October 7, academic institutions have applied overt and covert pressure to discourage Holocaust and genocide scholars from criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza. Still, many academics are organizing new networks to defend free inquiry.
The scramble for hegemony
The dismissal of a a renowned health leader who refused to ignore Palestine highlights false claims of universality in human rights, global health and academia. Mary Bassett’s removal is an act of cowardice amid fascist pressure.
Julia Roberts emerges unscathed but Luca Guadagnino’s tiring and muddled attempt to comment on trending topics doesn’t inspire the debates it so clearly wants.
Chan Davis, died last month at 96, faced down McCarthyite blacklists and imprisonment to pursue a brilliant academic career. Davis knew how to change and learn from political experience, but he always remained loyal to his socialist principles.
Science may be self-correcting, but only in the long term. Meanwhile, the triumph of dubious results increases research waste, and entire careers may be spent on chasing phantoms.
Sandra Oh’s Netflix series - Instead of fetishizing the literary classroom as a luminous font of inspiration, the series shows us how Ji-Yoon’s strenuous efforts are constantly crushed by structural racism and sexism.
Violence has not produced justice anywhere. We must build a nonviolent movement in the 21st century that advances a multi-racial democracy that has never before existed in the United States.
In order to access the power we need to change our lives, we must work to dismantle power as domination and instead, advance power through interdependence, relationship and cooperation.
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