Portside

In The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition, Linda Gordon emphasizes broad patterns, making the book more timely than even the headlines of white nationalist outpourings the past months would suggest, writes Scott McLemee. What stands out in Gordon’s book is that the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s tried to create a world unto itself through spectacle, mass communications and branding.

The changes come at a time when there's growing concern for hourly workers. Thousands of workers have staged protests to call attention to their financial struggles and to fight for hourly pay of $15. The November election of a Republican-controlled Congress dampened hopes of an increase in the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage. But advocates have continued to press for boosts on the state and local level.

Barcelona Dockworkers Refuse to Operate Police Ship Sent to Thwart Referendum

Puerto Rico’s struggle to rebuild after Hurricanes Irma and Maria is being made harder by its own government, and an indifferent White House

Willie Parker discusses his Christian faith, teen moms, and what’s next for abortion access.

Mapping Social Movements Through the 20th Century, a project directed by Professor James N. Gregory, allows us to see where social movements were active and where not, helping us better understand patterns of influence and endurance. It exposes new dimensions of American political geography, showing how locales that in one era fostered certain kinds of social movements often changed political colors over time.

“I knew that I had come from this very dark place — I was abhorrent to society,” said Michelle Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at N.Y.U. who was released from prison in August after serving 20 years. “But for 20 years, I’ve tried to do right, because I was still interested in the world, and because I didn’t believe my past made me somehow cosmically un-educatable forever.”

Stephen Greenblatt gives a new look into one of our civilization's origin myths and its role in the development of misogynist discourse.

On October 1, Catalonia will hold a referendum on independence from Spain. As the vote nears, the Spanish government is increasing its repression which is increasing the resistance amongst the Catalan population.