Roundup

Do Any Critics of "Marxism" on the Right Actually Know What it Is?

by Ben Burgis

The most prominent public intellectuals on the right-wing internet love to attack a version of Marxism that bears little connection to reality. Even Marxists should want better critics. 

Can Activists Use Banking Regulations to Force Decarbonization?

by Bart Elmore

After Clinton-era reforms enabled consolidation of the banking industry, environmental groups in the early 2000s began to target the commercial banking sides of the firms that raised capital and provided credit to the fossil fuels industry. 

Why is the American Right so Thirsty for Generalissimo Franco?

by David Austin Walsh

Increasingly "respectable" conservative intellectuals are openly advocating for a dictator to enforce cultural traditionalism as part of a battle to control the politics of elite institutions.

Dodgers' Controversial Invite to "Drag Nuns" Group Highlights Catholics' Selective Sense of Faith

by Kaya Oakes

Catholic groups expressing outrage at the team's recognition of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence overlook the centrality of mercy in the Gospels. 

WGA Strike Latest Example of Cultural Workers Joining Together as Entertainment Technology Changes

by Vaughn Joy

The development of television and online content have historically forced multiple Hollywood unions to join forces to secure a share of the returns of new techology or risk being frozen out entirely. 

Understanding Latino White Supremacy

by Geraldo Cadava

"In fact, Latino white supremacy isn’t an oxymoron, and carrying out a premeditated mass shooting in the United States is one of the more American things a Latino could do."

Determined to Remember: Harriet Jacobs and Slavery's Descendants

by Koritha Mitchell

Public history sites have the potential to spark intellectual engagement because when they make embodied connections between people and the sites they visit—even when those connections evoke the cruelty of the past. 

The Hypocrisy (and Futility) of English-Only "Decolonization"

by Eric Adler

The peril the liberal arts face today is exemplified by calls to dislodge the centrality of "dead white men" from the curriculum; universities are happy to accept this as a cheap way to pander to diversity as they gut language requirements and departments that would enable students to have a deeper engagement with world cultures.

When Witches Took Flight

by Chris Halsted

The modern association of witches and flight in fact emerged from a relatively obscure corner of medieval church writings that gained prominence in the context of contemporary political anxieties about women's political influence. 

Will the Debt Ceiling Deal Derail Environmental Justice?

by Robert Bullard and Larry Shapiro

The idea of permitting reform—easing the environmental constraints on building new energy infrastructure—has been a bargaining chip in the debt ceiling negotiations. Reforms could help bring a green energy grid online, but it could also put more polluting industry in poor and minority communities. 

The Roundup Top Ten for May 25, 2023

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

The Right to Dress However You Want

by Kate Redburn

New anti-transgender laws should prompt a legal response, but they also require a fundamental recognition: laws prescribing gendered dress codes infringe on everyone's freedom of expression. 

"Salts" are Part of Labor's Fight to Organize. They were once Part of the Antiwar Movement

by Derek Seidman

Taking a job with the covert intention of organizing the workplace is a time-honored labor tactic that's back in the news. Some dedicated activists in the 1960s "salted" the U.S. military in the hopes of building an antiwar movement within the ranks. 

Book Bans and Attacks on Libraries are Energizing Youth Activism

by Emily Drabinski

Right-wing politicians in Texas are teaching students about the realities of democracy, but not in the way they might have hoped. 

Americans Still Fumble in the Dark for Facts on Torture

by Karen J. Greenberg

The persistent efforts of scholars and human rights advocates are chipping away at the secrecy surrouding America's use of torture under the banner of national security in the War on Terror. 

Does Lincoln Hold the Key to the Debt Ceiling Crisis?

by Roger Lowenstein

Issuing "greenback" paper currency backed by the government's credit instead of gold was seen as a radical move in 1862, but Lincoln and Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase recognized the paramount importance of safeguarding the nation's credit and did it anyway. 

Maddow's Documentary Follows American Nazis in the 1940s—Does it Miss a Bigger Danger?

by Nelson Lichtenstein

The legal and law enforcement response to the rise of pro-Nazi groups in pre-WWII America was part of a growing national security state that would be used against dissent from the left and which the far right today seeks to use as a weapon. 

Coca Cola Can't Go Green While Selling Drinks Cold

by Bart Elmore

If the worldwide beverage giant wants to reduce its carbon footprint, it's time for it to reverse its historical commitment to make its drinks available cold—in electric coolers—across the globe.

Republican Push for More Capital Punishment Echoes Crime Panic of the 1980s

by Duncan Hosie

The Supreme Court decision in 1976 that allowed the states to resume executions coincided with a rise in anxiety over crime and pushed politicians to pledge more executions. 

How to Fight Back Against the Right's "Parents' Rights" Moral Panic

by Jennifer Berkshire

Parents' fears about losing control over their children have been the raw material for potent politically-motivated moral panics for a century and more. But those panics aren't irresistible, because parents everywhere still value public schools as democratic community institutions.