Roundup

Who Still Needs the Carnivalesque?

by Ed Simon

Despite its repeated theorization, the political meaning of carnivals and the social inversions they temporarily enable remains hotly debated. 

Why King Oil Rules American Politics

by Meg Jacobs

Politicians have repeatedly faced imperiled election prospects because of high gas prices, yet remain unwilling to take serious steps to unwind the oil dependency built into the American environment. 

The Fascism Debate is Over; Fascism Won

by Jonathan M. Katz

Academic hair-splitting about the applicability of the F-word to the MAGA phenomenon has not served the cause of democracy well. 

"Bolsonarismo" After Bolsonaro: Lula's Return and Antifascist Organizing in Brazil

by Sean Purdy

Entrenched support for Bolsonaro in Brazil's police, military, and institutions mean that the left will need to sustain grassroots mobilization to prevent the right from sweeping back into power. 

The Roundup Top Ten for November 4, 2022

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Some Asian American Activists Helped Build Affirmative Action; Today Some are Working to Dismantle It

by Ellen Wu

The midcentury rise of fascism and struggles for Black civil rights gave some Japanese American activists an opening to argue for principles of proportionality in ethnic representation in politics, education, employment, and other areas, key support for the group of policies that became affirmative action. 

In "God Forbid" the Falwells Epitomize Christian Hypocrisy

by Anthea Butler

The story of the Falwells and the scandal that undid their empire isn't about sexuality, but about the Evangelical compulsion to push back social change and the elevation of power over morality. 

The 1968 Tuskegee Student Uprising and the Moral Force of the Black University

by Brian Jones

"In a moment when Black studies and Black history are widely under attack, it can be useful to remember that Black student activists have historically been at the center of fights to democratize higher education and expand the curriculum."

The Tyranny of the Maps: Rethinking Redlining

by Robert Gioielli

The four-color mortgage security maps created by New Deal-era bureaucrats and bankers have become a widely-known symbol of housing discrimination and the racial wealth gap. But does the public familiarity with the maps obscure the history of housing discrimination? And what can historians do about that?

"A League of Their Own" Update Engages Lives of Queer Women in the 1940s

by Lauren Gutterman

"The series’ portrait of queer life amid World War II might seem unrealistic to some, but history reveals that queer women and trans men — from butch to femme and married to unmarried — often found opportunities to act on their desires and build queer communities."

The Past and Present of Christian Nationalism in America

by Eric McDaniel

"Christian nationalism is a religious and political belief system that argues the United States was founded by God to be a Christian nation and to complete God’s vision of the world. In this view, America can be governed only by Christians, and the country’s mission is directed by a divine hand."

Musk Just Latest in Right's Push To Acquire Media Platforms

by A.J. Bauer

The history of conservative media acquisitions reflects the anxiety on the right that their ideas are broadly unpopular. 

Putin, Contending Ukraine Doesn't Exist, Seeks its Destruction

by Olesya Khromeychuk

Unfortunately for the Russian leader, despite widespread global ignorance of the substance of Ukrainian nationhood, repeated attempts to destroy it testify to its reality. 

On Going Back Off the Tenure Track

by Sarah Handley-Cousins

"I had watched my historian friends pack up their families, leave the towns where they’d earned their PhDs, and move to take jobs, but it became slowly and devastatingly clear my situation was different."

GOP Response to Paul Pelosi Attack is a Sadistic New Low

by Tom Nichols

"January 6 was not an outlier. Laughing over a hammer attack on an old man, the GOP has completed its transition from a political party to a brutal mob."

Arizona Court: Armed Poll Watchers are Engaged in Free Speech, Not Voter Intimidation

by Rick Hasen

Standing around a ballot drop box wearing tactical gear and carrying a semiautomatic weapon is clearly an act of voter intimidation, says a leading scholar of voting rights. 

Broken Faith: What Must Christians Do About the White Nationalists Among Them?

by Anthea Butler

"Three major forces have combined to lead us perilously close to disaster: conspiracy theories, racial and historical panics, and the increasing language of spiritual warfare."

Witches are Having a Moment in 2022

by Anna K. Danziger Halperin

Women have long understood accusations of witchcraft as attacks on their efforts to exert power in their societies. This may explain why women today are embracing the symbol. 

History Makes the Best Argument to Keep Affirmative Action

by Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman

"The Supreme Court’s continued focus on educational benefits as the legal justification for affirmative action has led the policy’s supporters to play down what may well be a more compelling argument: the need to overcome past and continuing discrimination."

The Line Between Rhetoric and Political Violence is Fading Fast

by Matthew Dallek

By rhetorically signalling contempt for the government, public institutions, and their opponents, the leaders of the Republican Party are failing to maintain the separation of politics and violence.