Dispatches From the Culture Wars – October 22, 2024
- Canvassing in Pennsylvania
- US Elections: Who Wins and Why
- The South After Dobbs
- Cops and Cop City
- Suppressing Students’ Votes
- Maine Unions Lead on the Green Energy Transition
- The Overdue Division Over Zionism
- The Untold Story of Opus Dei
- Chicago Southsiders Fight Gentrification
- How Movements Win
By Cathy Sunshine
Third Age
Welcome to the Hotel Pennsylvania, an Airbnb set amid rolling hills by the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg. It’s our home base for a month of canvassing to get out the Democratic vote in this battleground state. Volunteers are rotating through the house all month, most of us coming from Baltimore or DC. Of the 20 or so people signed up to spend nights here, all but three or four are women.
US Elections: Who Wins and Why
By John Tarleton
The Indypendent
In a topsy-turvy presidential campaign — where there are stark differences between the two candidates on many domestic issues, and there is the likelihood that Donald Trump will try to overturn the results if the vote doesn’t go his way — one thing is certain: America’s warfare state will roll on.
By Edna Bonhomme
New Left Review
Anti-abortion violence appeared to taper off in the late 1990s. But it has not gone away; instead, it has taken on new forms. According to the National Abortion Federation, stalking and obstruction by anti-abortion extremists increased sharply in states with access to abortion between 2021 and 2022.
By Victoria Valenzuela
Yes!
California isn’t the only state where Cop Cities are being built. There is now a facility in almost every state and, according to researcher and mutual aid organizer Renee Johnston, at least 10 states have multiple police compounds. Groups like Stop Cop City Atlanta and Stop Cop City Dallas have been fighting these new police facilities by way of canvassing, holding rallies, petitioning, and more.
By Sasha Abramsky
Truthout
For more than a decade, GOP state legislators have sought to make it harder for students — a group that by and large leans left — to vote. Twenty-seven states have passed laws that could have a negative impact on student voter participation. These include bills that target organizations that help people with voter registration — which is particularly important for young, and often first-time, voters.
Maine Unions Lead on the Green Energy Transition
By Prakash Kashwan
Jacobin
Confronted with a governor united with offshore wind developers, the Maine labor unions launched a multipronged counteroffensive. Maine’s “red-green” coalition also entered intense negotiations with the governor’s energy and climate team a to continue developing a pro-labor OSW bill. This dual-track strategy of combining a political campaign with legislative negotiations bore fruit.
The Overdue Division Over Zionism
By Alissa Wise
The Nation
What is typically a time of unity in Jewish communities will this year be a time of separation. More and more organizations, helmed and populated by young Jews, are flipping on its head the logic that the legacy of the Holocaust requires allegiance to Israel rather than solidarity with Palestinians. For them, as they chant at protests, “‘Never again’ is now.”
By Natalia Junquera
EL PAÍS
After a five-year-long investigation into the far-right Catholic order, financial journalist Gareth Gore accuses the organization of holding Spain’s sixth-largest bank hostage, while exploiting and mistreating members. The future of the Catholic institution depends on Trump… and on how far Pope Francis is willing to go.
Chicago Southsiders Fight Gentrification
By Fran Quigley
In These Times
To an outsider, the South Shore neighborhood may not appear to be an obvious candidate for gentrification. But the history of Chicago and other urban centers shows that vacancies and evictions can set the stage for rapid gentrification. Investors are snapping up homes in South Shore, but a new tenants union is fighting back.
By Janneke Drent and Ruud Wouters
Mobilizing Ideas
120 scholars specializing in social movement and protest research were asked to reflect on what they considered to be the most successful social movements of the last two decades. Although mass protests are a vital way for social movements to communicate shared grievances or objectives, how these messages are conveyed and to whom, is highly dependent on the movement itself.