Kevin A Young
University of Massachusetts Amherst, History, Faculty Member
-
Latin America, Social Movements, Bolivia, Political Economy of Development, Twentieth-century U.S. social movements, Latin American social movements, and 26 moreIndigenous Movements, Natural Resources, U.S. Foreign Policy, Latin America and the Caribbean, History, Political Economy, Modern Latin American History, Andes, South Central Andes, Labor History and Studies, Political Sociology, Education, Social Sciences, Media Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Marxism, Extractive industries (Economic Anthropology), Environmental Sociology, Resource Nationalism, Development Economics, Economic Development, Popular Culture and Nationalism, Latin American History, Latin American and Caribbean History, History of Economic Thought, and Social movements and revolution edit
El Salvador’s guerrillas learned from a broad array of other revolutionary movements. This chapter examines global influences on the largest guerrilla faction, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí (FPL). Chinese and... more
El Salvador’s guerrillas learned from a broad array of other revolutionary movements. This chapter examines global influences on the largest guerrilla faction, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí (FPL). Chinese and Vietnamese conceptions of “Prolonged Popular War” were especially important in shaping the FPL’s approach to revolution. China and Vietnam informed the group’s emphasis on mass-based political work and on the worker-peasant coalition as the central axis of a revolutionary movement. The FPL adapted these lessons selectively and creatively. Its success depended on its ability to apply global ideologies and strategies in dialogue with El Salvador’s peasants, workers, and students.
Research Interests:
Latin American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Peasant Studies, Revolutions, Central America and Mexico, and 13 moreCentral American Studies, Communism, China, Latin American History, Social movements and revolution, Vietnam, El Salvador, Socialism, History of Communism, Guerrilla Warfare, Peasant Movements, Latin American Revolutionary movements, and Guerra de Vietnam
The spread of “history from below” in the late twentieth century was, paradoxically, slow to reach studies of the Latin American Left. Research on revolutionary movements has tended to privilege the voices of formal leadership, and... more
The spread of “history from below” in the late twentieth century was, paradoxically, slow to reach studies of the Latin American Left. Research on revolutionary movements has tended to privilege the voices of formal leadership, and usually the top national leadership, of leftist organizations. There have always been exceptions to the pattern, however, and more appear each year. Recent studies of the Left have begun to piece together a more robust picture of revolutionary movements both armed and unarmed. They have made clear that the Left is far more than the comandantes who have commanded so much attention from external observers. When top leaders are decentered, revolution appears as a complex process involving many important actors. Internal conflicts over strategies, structures, and values take on new importance, mediated by factors like race, nation, gender, sexuality, friendship, love, youth, religion, and personal transformation.
Research Interests:
Social Movements, Latin American and Caribbean History, Cuban Studies, Revolutions, Chile, and 13 moreLatin American History, Social movements and revolution, El Salvador, Cuban History, Brazil History, Cuban Revolution, Mexico, Zapatistas, Guerrilla Warfare, Historia de Chile, History of the Left, Revolución Cubana, and Historia De Las Izquierdas
Peasant support was a crucial factor in the Bolivian military’s assault on labor and the Left in the 1960s and 1970s. Analysts have offered diverse explanations for the so-called Military-Peasant Pact, ranging from the bribery of peasant... more
Peasant support was a crucial factor in the Bolivian military’s assault on labor and the Left in the 1960s and 1970s. Analysts have offered diverse explanations for the so-called Military-Peasant Pact, ranging from the bribery of peasant leaders to rank-and-file conservatism. These interpretations tend to be methodologically superficial and often reflect elitist prejudices about peasant behavior. Archival evidence and oral histories from Cochabamba suggest that the pact did enjoy substantial rank-and-file support. The military maintained that support by protecting peasant land rights and expanding rural access to public goods while imposing high costs on peasants who dissented. However, the Military-Peasant Pact was also more tenuous than most scholarship implies. Attempts to institute a new tax on land, to disarm peasants, and to impose austerity measures engendered major opposition by the 1970s, leading to a military massacre in 1974. This trajectory reveals both the foundations and limits of the military’s power.
Research Interests:
Military History, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Social Sciences, Latin American and Caribbean History, and 9 moreBolivian studies, Political Science, Bolivia, Latin American History, Social movements and revolution, Labor History and Studies, Latin America, Bolivian History, and Peasant Movements
The Trump administration says that Central American refugees are murderers and moochers who “invade” and “infest” the United States. Joe Biden isn’t a white nationalist like Trump, but he says foreigners “should have to get in line,”... more
The Trump administration says that Central American refugees are murderers and moochers who “invade” and “infest” the United States. Joe Biden isn’t a white nationalist like Trump, but he says foreigners “should have to get in line,” failing to mention that restrictive immigration laws leave no way for most of them to enter legally. Trump and Biden agree on one thing: that the United States owes nothing to the people seeking refuge at its borders. Allowing foreigners to enter is an act of charity, or perhaps something we do to make our country stronger. This framing is especially dishonest in the case of Central America, given that U.S. policy has played a central role in creating the violence and poverty from which Central American refugees are fleeing.
Research Interests:
Climate Change, Refugee Studies, Immigration, Central America and Mexico, Central American Studies, and 11 moreInternational Migration, Guatemala (History), Migration Studies, El Salvador, Asylum seekers, U.S. Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Honduras, Fossil Fuels, Refugees and Forced Migration Studies, and Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Research Interests:
¿En qué consistiría una política exterior norteamericana justa? Dejar vivir a América Latina significa no sólo terminar con la intervención directa, sino también establecer las estructuras para un desarrollo equitativo, democrático y... more
¿En qué consistiría una política exterior norteamericana justa? Dejar vivir a América Latina significa no sólo terminar con la intervención directa, sino también establecer las estructuras para un desarrollo equitativo, democrático y sostenible. Aquí proponemos un listado de cambios concretos, todos basados en los principios éticos de que 1) cada quien debe poder influir en el debate en la medida que se vea afectado por una decisión, y que 2) cada quien tiene que cumplir con sus responsabilidades históricas, pagando las reparaciones correspondientes en caso de que perjudique a otra persona.
Research Interests:
U.S. foreign policies are determined by a small group of elites making decisions with grave consequences for humanity, with little input from the U.S. public and even less consideration given to the opinions of non-U.S. citizens. What... more
U.S. foreign policies are determined by a small group of elites making decisions with grave consequences for humanity, with little input from the U.S. public and even less consideration given to the opinions of non-U.S. citizens. What would a just U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America look like? We propose some guiding values for the formulation of a just policy, centered on the dual principles that each person should have input in a decision to the degree that they are impacted by it, and that the perpetrators of crimes owe reparations to their victims. We then outline some specific pieces of a different policy, including but not limited to U.S. respect for international law, and conclude by discussing elements of a long-term strategy for achieving those changes.
Research Interests:
Latin American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Climate Change, Latin American politics, Immigration, and 14 moreInternational Migration, Venezuela, Migration Studies, Latin American social movements, Latin American Politics (Political Science), U.S. Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Latin American Sociology, Ecological Debt, Sanctions, Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic Sanctions, Climate Debt, and Colonialism and Imperialism
Los acuerdos de paz de 1992 en El Salvador trajeron una versión superficial de la democracia que seguía sin responder en gran medida a la población. En el 2009, el partido de oposición de izquierda, el FMLN, ganó las elecciones... more
Los acuerdos de paz de 1992 en El Salvador trajeron una versión superficial de la democracia que seguía sin responder en gran medida a la población. En el 2009, el partido de oposición de izquierda, el FMLN, ganó las elecciones presidenciales. Sin embargo, a pesar de ganar algunas reformas progresivas notables, no buscó, ni mucho menos logró, una ruptura radical de las políticas neoliberales de las administraciones anteriores. Con base en entrevistas personales y una revisión de fuentes periodísticas, encuestas, estudios académicos e informes oficiales y no gubernamentales, sostengo que el alejamiento del FMLN del socialismo revolucionario es atribuible a varios factores: un terreno político y mediático que todavía favorece a la derecha, la influencia continua del gobierno de los Estados Unidos y el control de los inversionistas privados sobre la economía. Estas fuerzas también ayudan a entender las limitaciones de gobiernos progresistas en otros países.
Research Interests:
The 1992 Salvadoran peace accords ended a 12-year civil war and forced modest democratic reforms on a state long dominated by a ruthless oligarchy and military. However, the new system represented a shallow version of democracy that... more
The 1992 Salvadoran peace accords ended a 12-year civil war and forced modest democratic reforms on a state long dominated by a ruthless oligarchy and military. However, the new system represented a shallow version of democracy that remained largely unresponsive to the population. For two decades the far-right Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Nationalist Republican Alliance [ARENA]) party held the presidency and used it to enact pro-business economic policies of austerity, privatization, and deregulation. In 2009, the left-wing opposition party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), won the presidential elections for the first time. Yet despite winning some notable progressive reforms, the FMLN did not seek, much less achieve, a radical break from the neoliberal policies of previous administrations. FMLN leaders opted to continue a number of pro-capitalist policies while pursuing reforms to ameliorate the worst symptoms of the system, not overthrow it. The FMLN's shift away from revolutionary socialism is attributable to several factors: a political and media terrain that still heavily favors the right, the continued influence of the United States government, and private investors' control over the economy. These constraints were vitally important during the tenures of FMLN presidents Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) and Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-2019). El Salvador's political trajectory since 1992, and especially during the FMLN's decade in the presidency, offers insights into the constraints facing various left-of-center governments elected across Latin America in the early 21st century.
Research Interests:
Political Sociology, Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Latin American and Caribbean History, Latin American politics, and 9 moreCentral America and Mexico, Central American Studies, Capitalism, Latin American History, El Salvador, U.S. Foreign Policy, Latin America, Latin American Left, and Pink tide in Latin America
Tras la revolución de 1952, muchos bolivianos confirieron en los hidrocarburos sus esperanzas de desarrollo. Sin embargo, aquéllos a favor de la nacionalización del petróleo se encontraban fuertemente divididos. Mientras el régimen del... more
Tras la revolución de 1952, muchos bolivianos confirieron en los hidrocarburos sus esperanzas de desarrollo. Sin embargo, aquéllos a favor de la nacionalización del petróleo se encontraban fuertemente divididos. Mientras el régimen del MNR buscaba la modernización económica, obreros y la izquierda demandaban redistribución a la par del crecimiento. Estas divisiones son importantes para entender la adopción de una política de “puertas abiertas” por parte del MNR así como la nacionalización de la Gulf Oil en 1969.
Research Interests:
Para comprender la historia política boliviana hay que analizar los pactos y las rupturas entre los sectores oprimidos del país. El presente análisis traza algunos intentos por construir alianzas obrero-campesinas e inter-étnicas entre... more
Para comprender la historia política boliviana hay que analizar los pactos y las rupturas entre los sectores oprimidos del país. El presente análisis traza algunos intentos por construir alianzas obrero-campesinas e inter-étnicas entre los años veinte y los años sesenta del siglo XX, señalando tanto los éxitos como los fracasos. Aunque se vieron coaliciones populares importantes en distintos momentos, por ejemplo, Chayanta en 1927 y La Paz en 1947, eran más comunes los desencuentros y decepciones. El fracaso de la alianza obrero-campesina llegó a su punto más infortunado en el Pacto Militar-Campesino de los sesenta y setenta, lo que significó el retroceso definitivo de las posibilidades radicales de la Revolución Nacional de 1952. Tras señalar una serie de momentos claves, planteo la hipótesis de que esta particular trayectoria responde tanto a factores humanos como a condiciones estructurales. Si bien los cambios estructurales ocurridos después de 1952 – en particular, la parcelación de la tierra y el control de la clase media sobre el Estado – dificultaron la alianza obrero-campesina, la ruptura entre obreros y campesinos no era inevitable. Más bien, resalto cómo el pensamiento y las estrategias de la izquierda, el manejo estatal y otras variables importantes fueron determinantes para este curso de acción.
Research Interests:
After the 1952 Bolivian Revolution oil assumed an increasingly important role in the country’s economy and popular consciousness, as Bolivians looked to hydrocarbons as an alternative to the declining mining industry. Oil nationalists... more
After the 1952 Bolivian Revolution oil assumed an increasingly important role in the country’s economy and popular consciousness, as Bolivians looked to hydrocarbons as an alternative to the declining mining industry. Oil nationalists were deeply divided, however. While the MNR regime sought economic modernization, labor and leftist forces also demanded major redistribution. These divisions influenced the changes in hydrocarbons policy after 1952. MNR leaders’ 1955 decision to open the sector to private investment in accordance with U.S. wishes reflected in part their aversion to a radicalization of the revolution, which would have been essential for survival had they defied the United States. Soon thereafter, a growing nationalist coalition challenged the “open-door” policy, culminating with the 1969 nationalization of Gulf Oil by the Ovando military regime. Ironically, though, Ovando’s nationalization was driven partly by the same conservative logic that had animated the MNR’s liberalization, in that Ovando favored nationalization as an alternative to redistribution. While tracing the rise and impact of Bolivian hydrocarbons nationalism, this case study also highlights some of the common conflicts within resource nationalist coalitions and how those conflicts can influence policy decisions.
Research Interests:
Latin American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Latin American politics, Nationalism, United States In The World, and 13 moreBolivia, Latin American History, Oil and gas, Latin American Economic History, United States Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International political economy of oil and gas, Modern Latin American History, Latinoamerica, América Latina, South America, HYDROCARBONS, and Bolivian Revolution
The 1947 upheavals on haciendas outside La Paz, Bolivia, were facilitated by an interethnic coalition between indigenous peasants and urban anarchists, most of whom were mestizos and cholos (thus 'non-indigenous' by official definition).... more
The 1947 upheavals on haciendas outside La Paz, Bolivia, were facilitated by an interethnic coalition between indigenous peasants and urban anarchists, most of whom were mestizos and cholos (thus 'non-indigenous' by official definition). Three sets of factors were essential to this alliance. First, the urbanites' own politics – their libertarian socialist vision, their attentiveness to both 'ethnic' and 'class' demands, and their organizational federalism – proved particularly conducive to coalition-building. Second, prior autonomous mobilization outside the city had created local leaders and networks which would form the rural bases for the coalition, and which would also help redefine the anarchist left starting in 1946. Finally, a series of coalition brokers bridged traditional divides of language, ethnicity, and geography. These three factors allowed anarchist organizers to exploit a limited political opening that appeared in 1945-1946. This account qualifies common dismissals of the Latin American left as mestizo-dominated and class-reductionist while also illuminating the process through which the alliance developed.
Research Interests:
Social Movements, Latin American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Marxism, and 26 morePolitical Coalitions, Peasant Studies, Bolivian studies, Revolutions, Anarchism, Race and Ethnicity, Socialisms, Resistance (Social), History of Anarchism, Indigenous Movements, Bolivia, Autonomy, Latin American History, Social movements and revolution, Socialism, Libertarian socialism, Historia, Andean studies, Rebellion, Movimientos sociales, Bolivian History, History of the Left, Peasant Movements, Movimientos Campesinos, Bolivian Revolution, and Historia De Bolivia
As Bolivian inflation spiraled out of control in 1956, the United States—which had been aiding the revolutionary MNR government since 1953 in hopes of steering it down a conservative path—deployed banker George Jackson Eder to implement a... more
As Bolivian inflation spiraled out of control in 1956, the United States—which had been aiding the revolutionary MNR government since 1953 in hopes of steering it down a conservative path—deployed banker George Jackson Eder to implement a monetarist stabilization plan that in many ways presaged the neoliberal reforms imposed across Latin America three decades later. The “Eder Plan” initiated in late 1956 stabilized the Bolivian currency, slashed government spending, and reoriented fiscal policy to prioritize payment on Bolivia’s foreign debt and compensation to the deposed tin oligarchy. By restoring “free rein to private enterprise,” Eder also sought to “purge” the government of all elements sympathetic to socialism, structuralism, and Keynesianism—what he called the “forces of darkness.” The Eder Plan was a key turning point in the MNR’s economic policy, and also signaled the beginning of the process of estrangement of the MNR from its working-class support base.
Research Interests:
The Triangular Plan of the 1960s was a key moment in the rightward shift of the Bolivian Revolution (1952-64). Billed by the United States, West Germany, and the Inter-American Development Bank as a generous loan program to “rehabilitate”... more
The Triangular Plan of the 1960s was a key moment in the rightward shift of the Bolivian Revolution (1952-64). Billed by the United States, West Germany, and the Inter-American Development Bank as a generous loan program to “rehabilitate” Bolivian tin mines, the plan also gave its architects a chance to discipline Bolivian workers, further privatize the Bolivian economy, and test the usefulness of conditional economic aid in containing revolutionary nationalism. Based on an analysis of the Triangular Plan, this paper advances three major analytical conclusions about postwar US policy toward Latin America: 1) independent nationalism and popular militancy, rather than Soviet-style Communism, were the primary fears of US policymakers; 2) the US response to the Bolivian Revolution was not, as some have implied, indicative of benign intentions in the face of revolutionary nationalism; and 3) Bolivia often served as a “test case” or laboratory for US policy measures.
Research Interests:
This article examines the ongoing U.S. solidarity campaign with the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colmotores (ASOTRECOL), workers fired from the GM plant in Bogotá, Colombia, after suffering injuries on... more
This article examines the ongoing U.S. solidarity campaign with the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colmotores (ASOTRECOL), workers fired from the GM plant in Bogotá, Colombia, after suffering injuries on the assembly line. After reviewing some of the factors that facilitated the mobilization of community and rank-and-file activists, we discuss the refusal of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union leadership to support the campaign. While the UAW has sometimes engaged in solidarity campaigns with foreign workers, it has not supported ASOTRECOL. We argue that the primary reason is that doing so might jeopardize what UAW leaders consider to be their positive relationship with GM. U.S. activists’ expectation that the UAW would support the cause strongly influenced their strategic orientation early on, further hindering the chances of success. We suggest that solidarity activists should take unions’ bargaining relationships into account when devising strategy.
Research Interests:
U.S. journalists and commentators have helped popularize the image of two distinct Latin American lefts: a “bad” left that is politically authoritarian and economically erratic and a “good” left that is democratic and committed to... more
U.S. journalists and commentators have helped popularize the image of two distinct Latin American lefts: a “bad” left that is politically authoritarian and economically erratic and a “good” left that is democratic and committed to free-market economics. This binary image oversimplifies the Latin American left in three ways: by overstating the contrast between the two alleged camps, by ignoring complex realities within each camp, and by exaggerating the failings of the so-called bad-left governments. The distinction makes sense, however, as a strategy for countering the rise of independent left-leaning governments in Latin America. Binary characterizations of subordinate peoples reflect a common discursive response to popular resistance on the part of imperial interests, and one with many precedents in the history of U.S.–Latin American relations. Widespread U.S. media adherence to the good-left/bad-left thesis is explicable given this context and given the historic and continuing dependence of the press on state and corporate interests.
Research Interests:
Este trabajo presenta un análisis discursivo de los libros de texto de Historia en México, especialmente de primaria. Los resultados indican que éstos se enfocan en los “héroes” nacionales, minimizan las desigualdades y conflictos de... more
Este trabajo presenta un análisis discursivo de los libros de texto de Historia en México, especialmente de primaria. Los resultados indican que éstos se enfocan en los “héroes” nacionales, minimizan las desigualdades y conflictos de interés dentro de la sociedad y retratan al Estado como un padre supremo y benevolente que cuida a todos sus ciudadanos. La historia se presenta como una progresión lineal, reflejando una fuerte “ideología del progreso” que oculta los crímenes y la corrupción de los líderes gubernamentales, los empresarios y otros miembros de la clase dominante, así como las contribuciones e historias de las clases subalternas. Además, se omite casi toda discusión de la historia reciente, que es fundamental para el entendimiento del presente. Mientras que muchos analistas, teóricos y activistas han señalado tales críticas de forma general, este artículo presenta un análisis específico que pretende servir directamente a los maestros y alumnos.
This study presents a discursive analysis of Mexican history textbooks, especially those used in elementary school. The textbooks focus on national “heroes”, minimize inequalities and conflicts of interest in society, and portray the government as a supreme, benevolent father who cares for all citizens. History is presented as a linear progression, reflecting a strong “ideology of progress” that conceals the crimes and corruption of government officials, business leaders, and other members of the dominant class, as well as the contributions and histories of the lower classes. In addition, almost all discussion of recent history is omitted—history that is fundamental for understanding the present. While many analysts, theorists, and activists have made such criticism in general form, this article presents a specific analysis that attempts to serve teachers and students directly.
This study presents a discursive analysis of Mexican history textbooks, especially those used in elementary school. The textbooks focus on national “heroes”, minimize inequalities and conflicts of interest in society, and portray the government as a supreme, benevolent father who cares for all citizens. History is presented as a linear progression, reflecting a strong “ideology of progress” that conceals the crimes and corruption of government officials, business leaders, and other members of the dominant class, as well as the contributions and histories of the lower classes. In addition, almost all discussion of recent history is omitted—history that is fundamental for understanding the present. While many analysts, theorists, and activists have made such criticism in general form, this article presents a specific analysis that attempts to serve teachers and students directly.
Research Interests:
The recent debate about whether climate activists should employ disruptive tactics tends to conflate all forms of disruption. The debate typically focuses on the public's reaction to protesters, yet the more important question is whether... more
The recent debate about whether climate activists should employ disruptive tactics tends to conflate all forms of disruption. The debate typically focuses on the public's reaction to protesters, yet the more important question is whether a given tactic imposes disruption on elite decision makers. Most external analysts, and many activists themselves, fail to specify what approaches are most disruptive of elite interests and which elite institutions the movement should target. They also often misinterpret the lessons of historical social movements. We reconsider one of those movements, the Birmingham civil rights campaign of 1963, in light of the current strategic debate. We argue that disruption is necessary, but that not all "disruptive" strategies are equally effective. In particular, we advocate a strategy that can impose sustained and escalating costs on the elite sectors that can force politicians to confront the climate emergency. Priority targets include financial institutions that fund and underwrite fossil fuels as well as corporations, universities, pension funds, and other institutions that consume and invest in fossil fuels.
Research Interests:
Political Sociology, Social Movements, Climate Change, Collective Action, Civil Rights Movement, and 9 moreCivil Rights (History), Activism, Cambio climático, Fossil Fuels, Climate Change Activism, Social Movements, Medioambiente, Activismo, Black Freedom Movement, and Renewable Energy and Climate Change
The US fossil fuel industry is vulnerable to opposition from other sectors of the ruling class. Non-fossil fuel capitalists might conclude that climate breakdown jeopardizes their interests. State actors such as judges, regulators, and... more
The US fossil fuel industry is vulnerable to opposition from other sectors of the ruling class. Non-fossil fuel capitalists might conclude that climate breakdown jeopardizes their interests. State actors such as judges, regulators, and politicians may come to the same conclusion. However, these other elite actors are unlikely to take concerted collective action against fossil fuels in the absence of growing disruption by grassroots activists. Drawing from the history of the Obama, Trump, and Biden presidencies, I analyze the forces determining government climate policies and private-sector investments. I focus on how the climate and Indigenous movements have begun to force changes in the behavior of certain ruling-class interests. Of particular importance is these movements' progress in two areas: eroding the financial sector's willingness to fund and insure fossil fuels, and influencing judges and regulators to take actions that further undermine investors' confidence in fossil fuels. Our future hinges largely on whether the movements can build on these victories while expanding their base within labor unions and other strategically positioned sectors.
Research Interests:
The victories of the Black freedom struggle have also benefited most non-Black people. The widespread understanding of “allyship” fails to understand that Black and non-Black people have shared material interests. In fact, it unwittingly... more
The victories of the Black freedom struggle have also benefited most non-Black people. The widespread understanding of “allyship” fails to understand that Black and non-Black people have shared material interests. In fact, it unwittingly reinforces the pernicious myth that Black people can only gain at the expense of other groups – a myth that has long been the bread-and-butter of right-wing demagogues in this country. Shared interest doesn’t mean we all have the exact same experiences, and for this reason it’s essential that Black workers and other oppressed portions of the working class be in leadership positions within the movement. These two insights – our shared material interests, but also the need for the most oppressed to be central within the leadership of our movements – have been understood by most Black revolutionaries throughout history. We must take heed of their wisdom if we hope to build an interracial coalition of working people that can defeat the right and win the things we need.
Research Interests:
Climate and Indigenous organizers have been attacking Big Energy companies and their investors, using economic pressure, boycotts, lawsuits, and disruptive direct-action tactics to impede drilling, interrupt the transportation of oil and... more
Climate and Indigenous organizers have been attacking Big Energy companies and their investors, using economic pressure, boycotts, lawsuits, and disruptive direct-action tactics to impede drilling, interrupt the transportation of oil and gas, and choke off the flow of financing to, and insurance for, such projects. This multipronged strategy has been so surprisingly successful that investors have begun divesting from fossil-fuel extraction and infrastructure. Understanding the largely unnoticed success of recent resistance movements is crucial if we hope to prevent total ecological collapse.
Research Interests:
The desire to overcome the alienated labor of capitalism manifests itself in the daily actions of people everywhere. John Holloway argues that social movements must build upon this liberatory impulse, challenging not only the rate of... more
The desire to overcome the alienated labor of capitalism manifests itself in the daily actions of people everywhere. John Holloway argues that social movements must build upon this liberatory impulse, challenging not only the rate of exploitation but also workers’ loss of control over the process of production and allocation (and by implication, the loss of control in other arenas of life). Revolutionary change, in turn, will result from these movements creating thousands of “cracks” in the capitalist system by asserting alternative ways of living. Holloway’s argument for prefigurative movements is ambiguous on several points, however: the role of political organizations, the role of alternative institutions, and the appropriate approach of social movements to the state. We propose some friendly amendments, placing greater emphasis on the need for strong political organizations and counter-institutions, but also for selective engagement with dominant institutions. A revolutionary strategy must combine the construction of prefigurative counter-institutions with struggles for reform of existing structures. Yet the dangers of oligarchization and hierarchy within movements are very real, and thus require structures that are ruthlessly democratic and ideologies that are explicitly intersectional in their approach to fighting different forms of oppression.
Research Interests:
Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation. We... more
Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation. We highlight an alternative, less intuitive way in which movements can exert political influence: by targeting the corporate and institutional adversaries of their proposed reforms. Such targeting can undermine their adversaries’ ability or commitment to oppose the changes, thus relaxing the contrary pressure applied to politicians and reducing the resistance within government to progressive reform. We support this proposition by highlighting five instances in which mass pressure applied to institutional adversaries contributed to government policy change. Our analysis demonstrates that mass protest targeting large institutions whose leaders are not elected can be an effective and even primary strategy for compelling elected officials to enact and implement progressive policy change.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT: Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation.... more
ABSTRACT: Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation. We highlight an alternative, less intuitive way in which movements can exert political influence: by targeting the corporate and institutional adversaries of their proposed reforms. Such targeting can undermine their adversaries’ ability or commitment to oppose the changes, thus relaxing the contrary pressure applied to politicians and reducing the resistance within government to progressive reform. We support this proposition by highlighting five instances in which mass pressure applied to institutional adversaries contributed to government policy change. Our analysis demonstrates that mass protest targeting large institutions whose leaders are not elected can be an effective and even primary strategy for compelling elected officials to enact and implement progressive policy change.
Research Interests:
We analyze the recent U.S. healthcare reform as an illustration of the embeddedness of large corporations in U.S. policymaking. The affected industries were centrally involved in the process from the start, guaranteeing that their... more
We analyze the recent U.S. healthcare reform as an illustration of the embeddedness of large corporations in U.S. policymaking. The affected industries were centrally involved in the process from the start, guaranteeing that their interests would receive priority, while public opinion and human rights considerations mattered little. The creation of "Obamacare" offers a lens through which to understand how and why the government embraces the class interests of the corporate elite. After reviewing the reform process, we also offer some strategic propositions for the Medicare for All movement. Since politicians are not actually the main authors of policy, targeting politicians may not be the most effective way to change state policy. We instead propose that, given the political power of corporations, the most effective strategy for influencing state policy is to threaten those corporations directly. We argue that the movement should focus on building labor-community alliances that can force corporations to absorb more of the costs of healthcare, while educating and mobilizing the public around the single-payer option. At some point many employers outside the insurance sector—if their healthcare costs continue to spiral upward—could decide that the benefits of single payer outweigh the costs, and they will lobby state policymakers for single payer or at least consent to that policy change.
Research Interests:
Most US activists place a high priority on elections. The default strategy for those seeking policy change is some combination of electoral campaigning and pressure campaigns targeting politicians. Yet policies show a high degree of... more
Most US activists place a high priority on elections. The default strategy for those seeking policy change is some combination of electoral campaigning and pressure campaigns targeting politicians. Yet policies show a high degree of continuity across recent presidential administrations. Despite substantial differences in rhetoric and legislative agendas, the policies resulting from Republican and Democratic presidencies have stayed within a narrow range, defined by the promotion of corporate profits, the impunity of law enforcement agencies, the defense of imperial prerogatives, and nearly unfettered ecological destruction. Focusing on the Trump and Biden presidencies, I analyze some of the structural barriers that inhibit major policy change. I also explore why the ruling class as a whole has not yet united against parasitic industries like fossil fuels and pharmaceuticals that endanger the interests of other capitalists. I argue that activists must move beyond electoral and legislative approaches by directly disrupting ruling-class interests that have the power to change policy. Only then will we win major progressive reform.
Research Interests:
Sociology, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Social Movement, Political Science, and 14 moreEcology, Elites (Political Science), Political Elites, Labor History and Studies, Elections, Healthcare, Elections and Voting Behavior, Electoral Studies, Barack Obama, Fossil Fuels, Capitalismo, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and trumpism
ABSTRACT: Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation.... more
ABSTRACT: Studies of the impact of social movements on government policy usually assume that the most effective strategy to win a reform is to directly pressure the elected politicians responsible for its legislation and implementation. We highlight an alternative, less intuitive way in which movements can exert political influence: by targeting the corporate and institutional adversaries of their proposed reforms. Such targeting can undermine their adversaries’ ability or commitment to oppose the changes, thus relaxing the contrary pressure applied to politicians and reducing the resistance within government to progressive reform. We support this proposition by highlighting five instances in which mass pressure applied to institutional adversaries contributed to government policy change. Our analysis demonstrates that mass protest targeting large institutions whose leaders are not elected can be an effective and even primary strategy for compelling elected officials to enact and implement progressive policy change.
Research Interests:
Big protest movements often seem like flashes in the pan, flaring up then fizzling soon after. How can the explosion of energy expressed in those moments be translated into lasting organizations? Catherine Corrigall-Brown’s Keeping the... more
Big protest movements often seem like flashes in the pan, flaring up then fizzling soon after. How can the explosion of energy expressed in those moments be translated into lasting organizations? Catherine Corrigall-Brown’s Keeping the March Alive examines the aftermath of one such episode, the hundreds of Women’s Marches in protest of Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. The book traces the evolution of 35 local chapters of the organization Indivisible over the two years that followed, asking what led some chapters to survive and others to disappear. Corrigall-Brown uses a rich combination of quantitative event data, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, and interviews with organizers to understand the fate of local chapters. Her findings stress the importance of organizers’ decisions about strategies, tactics, and member engagement.
Research Interests:
Most studies of international solidarity focus on movements connecting the global North and South, sidelining the vital connections within the South. While revolutionaries have long prioritized both North-South and South-South... more
Most studies of international solidarity focus on movements connecting the global North and South, sidelining the vital connections within the South. While revolutionaries have long prioritized both North-South and South-South relationships, academics have been slower to catch on. Only recently have we begun to give “South-South solidarity” the attention it merits.
Jessica Stites Mor’s study examines South-South solidarity movements involving the Latin American Left, primarily during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Jessica Stites Mor’s study examines South-South solidarity movements involving the Latin American Left, primarily during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Research Interests:
A quarter-century after Hugo Chávez’s first election inaugurated Latin America’s Pink Tide, there is broad agreement that Pink Tide governments made important advances but failed to deliver on their more ambitious promises. Most of the... more
A quarter-century after Hugo Chávez’s first election inaugurated Latin America’s Pink Tide, there is broad agreement that Pink Tide governments made important advances but failed to deliver on their more ambitious promises. Most of the major reforms were enacted in the 2000s, after which the initial dynamism faded. Economic troubles and a widespread sense of "desgaste" facilitated the Right’s resurgence in the 2010s.
The Impasse of the Latin American Left is a synthesis of this recent history by three prominent leftist critics of the Pink Tide. The book offers both a concise overview of progressive governments and an explanatory framework for understanding their records. Key to the argument is Gramsci’s notion of passive revolution, in which governments enact modest reforms “to preempt the escalation of the class struggle” (126). They simultaneously pursue multiclass alliances, including with large capital, and discourage autonomous popular mobilization. Though this approach can bring temporary political stability, it often undermines progressive governments over time. The authors make a strong case that this dynamic helped enable the opportunistic machinations of U.S. empire and domestic elites.
The Impasse of the Latin American Left is a synthesis of this recent history by three prominent leftist critics of the Pink Tide. The book offers both a concise overview of progressive governments and an explanatory framework for understanding their records. Key to the argument is Gramsci’s notion of passive revolution, in which governments enact modest reforms “to preempt the escalation of the class struggle” (126). They simultaneously pursue multiclass alliances, including with large capital, and discourage autonomous popular mobilization. Though this approach can bring temporary political stability, it often undermines progressive governments over time. The authors make a strong case that this dynamic helped enable the opportunistic machinations of U.S. empire and domestic elites.
Research Interests:
This volume is the latest contribution to a growing literature on the Latin American revolutionary Left, defined by Tanya Harmer and Alberto Martín Alvarez as antireformist forces who supported or engaged in armed struggle starting in the... more
This volume is the latest contribution to a growing literature on the Latin American revolutionary Left, defined by Tanya Harmer and Alberto Martín Alvarez as antireformist forces who supported or engaged in armed struggle starting in the late 1950s and 1960s. The book traces some of the global connections that shaped Latin American revolutionary groups as well as those groups’ global impacts. The contributors’ use of seldom-tapped
archives in Beijing,Moscow, Prague, and various Western European sites sets the volume apart from most studies of the Latin American Left.
archives in Beijing,Moscow, Prague, and various Western European sites sets the volume apart from most studies of the Latin American Left.
Research Interests:
Neoliberalism's sordid record has often engendered nostalgia for the mid twentieth century, which was characterized by Keynesianism and welfare state expansion in the United States and by developmentalist policy (and more modest welfare... more
Neoliberalism's sordid record has often engendered nostalgia for the mid twentieth century, which was characterized by Keynesianism and welfare state expansion in the United States and by developmentalist policy (and more modest welfare measures) in Latin America. Most analysts see the neoliberal assault that began in the 1970s as a moment of radical rupture. Amy Offner instead shows that the signature policies of the neoliberal era-deregulation, privatization, and the shifting of costs onto workers and other vulnerable groups-emerged long before the recognized advent of neoliberalism. Governments hamstrung by fiscal constraints opted not to confront the wealthy but to devolve public powers to autonomous entities controlled by capitalists. Later neoliberal crusaders built upon existing policies, "sorting out" the pieces they liked from those that were unprofitable.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Of the many studies of Bolivia’s popular uprisings of 2000–2005, Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar’s participatory-observer account stands out. In addition to furnishing an innovative framework for understanding the “rhythms” of social struggle... more
Of the many studies of Bolivia’s popular uprisings of 2000–2005, Raquel
Gutiérrez Aguilar’s participatory-observer account stands out. In addition
to furnishing an innovative framework for understanding the “rhythms” of
social struggle during those years, the book grapples with some of the
tensions and dilemmas common to diverse emancipatory struggles. This
translation of the 2008 original makes the analysis available to English readers.
Gutiérrez Aguilar’s participatory-observer account stands out. In addition
to furnishing an innovative framework for understanding the “rhythms” of
social struggle during those years, the book grapples with some of the
tensions and dilemmas common to diverse emancipatory struggles. This
translation of the 2008 original makes the analysis available to English readers.
Research Interests:
Tsutsui and Lim bring together some of the best research on the phenomenon of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR), loosely defined as corporations’ voluntary assumption of social or environmental obligations beyond those required by... more
Tsutsui and Lim bring together some of the best research on the phenomenon of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR), loosely defined as corporations’ voluntary assumption of social or environmental obligations beyond those required by law. Despite its merits, however, the book seems to neglect the implications of its own findings. Many of the authors note (often in passing) the manifest inadequacies of CSR initiatives: “only a tiny portion of all the major corporations in the world are members” of these voluntary initiatives, and membership requirements are often minimal (Shell, BP, Coca-Cola, General Motors, and Nike are all prominent CSR participants). But the authors tend to avoid the logical follow-up questions: can the modern corporation, and capitalist system itself, ever be made compatible with human and planetary needs? And looking beyond CSR, how might workers and social movements best target corporations?
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
By now the U.S. intervention in Iraq has drawn strong criticisms from most quarters. Prominent intellectuals, journalists, and politicians—to say nothing of the public at large or the world outside the United States—routinely express... more
By now the U.S. intervention in Iraq has drawn strong criticisms from most quarters. Prominent intellectuals, journalists, and politicians—to say nothing of the public at large or the world outside the United States—routinely express disapproval of one or more aspects of the war. But the precise nature of that disapproval and the motivations behind it vary widely. The two books by journalists James Fallows and Dahr Jamail both deliver strong critiques of the Iraq War, but do so in dramatically different ways and for dramatically different reasons. While Fallows typifies much of the mainstream, pragmatic criticism of the war, Jamail's critique is more principled and more cognizant of the terrible human devastation wrought by the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An analysis of how the capitalist press pits the public against social spending, good wages, and environmental protection
Research Interests:
Una breve historia de la política inmigratoria en Estados Unidos, la cual generalmente se ha basado en la exclusión y la subordinación.
Research Interests:
Noble rhetoric notwithstanding, the “huddled masses” have rarely been welcomed into the United States. Our economic and political system has always depended upon the exclusion or subordination of certain people based on class, race,... more
Noble rhetoric notwithstanding, the “huddled masses” have rarely been welcomed into the United States. Our economic and political system has always depended upon the exclusion or subordination of certain people based on class, race, gender, religion, and other factors, and our immigration laws have played a central role in preserving these inequalities. Resisting racism requires that we confront not just Trumpism but the broader elite consensus of exclusion and exploitation.
Research Interests:
Many millions of people are already killed, sickened, or displaced each year due to climate disasters, as data from diverse sources demonstrates. If present trends continue, the number will increase dramatically in the next several... more
Many millions of people are already killed, sickened, or displaced each year due to climate disasters, as data from diverse sources demonstrates. If present trends continue, the number will increase dramatically in the next several decades. The victims will be overwhelmingly poor and nonwhite, and will bear virtually zero responsibility for creating the climate crisis. Faced with this prospect, U.S. elites have responded not by seeking to mitigate global warming or to atone for their crimes, but rather to preserve the existing distribution of wealth and power in the world. Part of that effort involves sealing desperate people inside their devastated countries. Because the effects of the climate emergency are deeply shaped by race, class, nation, and other factors, confronting climate change means more than confronting the fossil fuel industry; it also means fighting against austerity, labor exploitation, racism, nationalism, patriarchy, and all the other ugly manifestations of the system.
Research Interests:
The recent peace in Colombia will be partial, in both senses of the word: limited in its delivery of physical security for progressive activists, and strongly biased in favor of capitalist interests. Despite its many limitations, though,... more
The recent peace in Colombia will be partial, in both senses of the word: limited in its delivery of physical security for progressive activists, and strongly biased in favor of capitalist interests. Despite its many limitations, though, the November 2016 accord could eventually open new political space for progressive and leftist forces in Colombia. The extent to which it does so will depend on a range of actors, including capitalists, the U.S. government, and Colombia’s own popular movements. The struggles among and within those forces will determine whether the accord brings continued neoliberalism and violence in the guise of peace or, in the words of the Agrarian Summit (Cumbre Agraria) coalition, the “peace that we aspire to, with no more victims.”
Research Interests:
Why is President Obama’s deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—a plan also supported by all the other major world powers—arousing such opposition in the United States and Israel? The reasons given by Israeli Prime Minister... more
Why is President Obama’s deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—a plan also supported by all the other major world powers—arousing such opposition in the United States and Israel? The reasons given by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war hawks in the U.S. Senate are bogus, rejected even by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. This latest “great debate” is only nominally about nukes; it is really another chapter in the longstanding effort of the United States (and junior partner Israel) to establish dominance in the Middle East. This episode focuses on finding an effective strategy for removing or domesticating the Islamist regime in Iran, and on which of the countries in the region will be the on-site agent of U.S. hegemony.
Research Interests:
Sociology, Political Sociology, International Relations, Middle East Studies, International Law, and 13 morePolitical Science, Nuclear Weapons, Iranian Studies, Politics, Israel/Palestine, International Politics, Middle East Politics, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Barack Obama, Neocolonialism, and Politics and International relations
While it is usually assumed that the best way to change government policies is to pressure politicians or elect different ones, we propose that movements are more effective when they target the corporate and institutional interests that... more
While it is usually assumed that the best way to change government policies is to pressure politicians or elect different ones, we propose that movements are more effective when they target the corporate and institutional interests that control public policy behind-the-scenes. We discuss several historical as well as current-day examples, and conclude with some thoughts on how this reform strategy might help advance the broader goals of movement-building and revolutionary transformation.
Research Interests:
Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Climate Change, Climate change policy, and 16 moreCommunity Organizing, Anarchism, Social Movements (Political Science), Vietnam War, Social movements and revolution, Labor History and Studies, Socialism, Environmental movements, Movimientos sociales, Iraq War, Antiwar movements, Minimum Wage, Social Movement Strategy, Fast Food Industry, Climate Politics, and Immigrant Rights
El Salvador’s long civil war, which pitted savagely repressive U.S.-funded military forces against a leftist guerrilla army, ended in 1992. But while the peace accords ended the “war of bullets,” says labor leader Wilfredo Berríos, “the... more
El Salvador’s long civil war, which pitted savagely repressive U.S.-funded military forces against a leftist guerrilla army, ended in 1992. But while the peace accords ended the “war of bullets,” says labor leader Wilfredo Berríos, “the political, social, and economic war began again,” and “under the rules of the right, the rules of capitalism, and the rules of the United States.” In this context, the triumph of the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) party—the former guerrillas—in the last two presidential elections is quite remarkable. The victories of Mauricio Funes in 2009 and Salvador Sánchez Cerén in 2014 have threatened to disrupt the Salvadoran government’s historic pattern of compliance with U.S. and capitalist interests. Yet as Berríos’ comments imply, forces opposed to progressive change have retained great power to shape “the rules” of the game, even under FMLN governance. The Obama administration's “Partnership for Growth” reflects a shift in imperial strategy and also highlights the constraints facing progressive governments in Latin America.
Research Interests:
The US preference for a militarized neoliberalism—the model which the Obama administration is now seeking to reproduce in Mexico and Central America—obeys a fairly coherent logic, rooted in the history of US policy toward Latin America.
Research Interests:
The fundamental conflict between Arabs and the West, keenly perceived by Arabs themselves and highlighted by the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, is between peoples seeking greater democracy, sovereignty, and economic... more
The fundamental conflict between Arabs and the West, keenly perceived by Arabs themselves and highlighted by the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, is between peoples seeking greater democracy, sovereignty, and economic justice, and outside powers determined to prevent those prospects.
Research Interests:
Recently the Latin American “dirty wars” of the 1960s-80s have resurfaced in mainstream media discussion. One reason is the trials in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru, and Uruguay against some of the late twentieth century’s most... more
Recently the Latin American “dirty wars” of the 1960s-80s have resurfaced in mainstream media discussion. One reason is the trials in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru, and Uruguay against some of the late twentieth century’s most vicious criminals, who are collectively responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of political dissidents and their suspected sympathizers. Despite dedicating substantial coverage to these events, U.S. news outlets have usually ignored the role of the U.S. government in supporting these murderous right-wing regimes through military aid and diplomatic support. This pattern also applies to press coverage of current U.S.-backed “dirty wars,” in Honduras and elsewhere.
Research Interests:
Like other such deals, the so-called "free-trade" agreement between the United States and Colombia is driven by the intertwined interests of corporate profits and US geopolitics
Research Interests:
A brief primer for countering the most dominant myths about budget deficits and economic policy that circulate within the corporate media and halls of government
Research Interests:
One crucial measure of press coverage of global affairs is the extent to which media outlets consider the international legal framework embodied in agreements like the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Treaty on the... more
One crucial measure of press coverage of global affairs is the extent to which media outlets consider the international legal framework embodied in agreements like the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (“Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” or NPT). This article tests the attention to international law in recent editorials about Iran in two of the United States’ leading liberal newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post. Although the papers’ editors routinely accuse the Iranian government of “contempt for international law,” their own record reveals a systematic disdain for the international legal principles and treaty obligations of which the US and Israeli governments are in violation.
Research Interests:
U.S. press coverage of Honduras and Iran in 2009 is a textbook example of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s “propaganda model,” which predicts that news coverage will consistently vilify antagonists of the U.S. government while showing... more
U.S. press coverage of Honduras and Iran in 2009 is a textbook example of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s “propaganda model,” which predicts that news coverage will consistently vilify antagonists of the U.S. government while showing leniency toward official allies. This pattern is demonstrated through a quantitative analysis of New York Times and Washington Post articles.
Research Interests:
In negotiating the deal with Iran, the Obama Administration is taking one step toward a change in posture toward Iran, forced of course by the fading U.S. power and failing military efforts in the Middle East. The key to U.S. policy... more
In negotiating the deal with Iran, the Obama Administration is taking one step toward a change in posture toward Iran, forced of course by the fading U.S. power and failing military efforts in the Middle East. The key to U.S. policy until now has been unremitting effort to dislodge the Islamic regime, using military, economic and political leverage. The constant attention to Iran’s nuclear project has always been a diversion from the regime change goals, but it does have one element of urgency: were Iran to get a nuclear weapon, it would be a definitive deterrent against a military effort at regime change. So the agreement codifies that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon for the foreseeable future, and thus preserve the possibility regime change achieved through military action. But in exchange, the Obama administration has to give up the economic war, thus removing the immediate pressure on the regime. To make this pill easier to swallow, the economic detente will be utilized (by the Western powers) to re-integrate Iran into the global economy—i.e., opening it to global corporations. However, this increasing presence of global capitalism in Iran will also make less vulnerable to regime change, both because the government will be more resourceful and because any military attack would hurt the interest of the global corporations that the U.S. is so loyal to.
So this agreement is a tentative step toward “reintegrating” Iran into the (U.S. dominated) “global economy.” If it does open Iran to Western investment, the agreement can be a non-military route to bring Iran back into the U.S. orbit, as it was under the Shah until 1979.
Sounds like a good deal for the U.S.—using economic investment to achieve what military incursions and threats and economic boycotts have not achieved over the last forty years. So why the opposition? Well, in the case of Israel, this would constitute a shift away from U.S. reliance on Israel as the prime Ally in the regime, it would constitute a shift away from the military-primary policies that Israel is wedded to, and it would allow Iran to become an even more formidable opponent to Israeli influence in the region. And, at home, it would constitute a first, tentative step away from the military-first/military-primary/military-always foreign policy that the GOP and most Democrats have favored; and which that the U.S. government has pursued at least since the fall of the Soviet Union.
So this agreement is a tentative step toward “reintegrating” Iran into the (U.S. dominated) “global economy.” If it does open Iran to Western investment, the agreement can be a non-military route to bring Iran back into the U.S. orbit, as it was under the Shah until 1979.
Sounds like a good deal for the U.S.—using economic investment to achieve what military incursions and threats and economic boycotts have not achieved over the last forty years. So why the opposition? Well, in the case of Israel, this would constitute a shift away from U.S. reliance on Israel as the prime Ally in the regime, it would constitute a shift away from the military-primary policies that Israel is wedded to, and it would allow Iran to become an even more formidable opponent to Israeli influence in the region. And, at home, it would constitute a first, tentative step away from the military-first/military-primary/military-always foreign policy that the GOP and most Democrats have favored; and which that the U.S. government has pursued at least since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Research Interests:
In the modern United States, few progressive reforms have been enacted and implemented without the consent and/or support of substantial sectors of the corporate elite. Inflicting pain on corporations through disruptive mass activism has... more
In the modern United States, few progressive reforms have been enacted and implemented without the consent and/or support of substantial sectors of the corporate elite. Inflicting pain on corporations through disruptive mass activism has historically been the best way to reduce corporate opposition to progressive changes, and in turn, the resistance of the politicians who represent them.
Research Interests:
Most analyses of Donald Trump's presidency stress its uniqueness. For many commentators, the "crisis of democracy" refers to Trump's January 2021 coup attempt and his other authoritarian machinations. Some analysts speak of the "Trump... more
Most analyses of Donald Trump's presidency stress its uniqueness. For many commentators, the "crisis of democracy" refers to Trump's January 2021 coup attempt and his other authoritarian machinations. Some analysts speak of the "Trump effect" on the Republican Party. Yet in most respects Trump is an extreme expression of longstanding patterns. Trump's style of demagoguery draws from the historic repertoire of the Right, while most of his policies as president were consistent with those of his predecessors. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, appears incapable of stopping the spread of far-right politics, largely because the party is unable and/or unwilling to deliver major redistributive reforms. Trump and Trumpism are symptoms of this deeper systemic crisis.
Research Interests:
The importance of overt levers of business political influence, notably campaign donations and lobbying, has been overemphasized. Using Executive branch policymaking during the Obama administration as a case study, this paper shows that... more
The importance of overt levers of business political influence, notably campaign donations and lobbying, has been overemphasized. Using Executive branch policymaking during the Obama administration as a case study, this paper shows that those paths of influence are often not the most important. We place special emphasis on the structural power that large banks and corporations wield by virtue of their control over the flow of capital and the consequent impact on employment levels, credit availability, prices, and tax collection. At times, business disinvestment, combined with demands for government policy reforms, constitutes a conscious “capital strike,” which has the potential to shape political appointments, legislation, and policy implementation. Other times, the threat of disinvestment, the hint of a drop in “business confidence,” or rhetoric about job creation is sufficient to achieve these objectives. This analysis has important implications for our understanding of political power and social change in capitalist economies.
Research Interests:
It is no surprise that Donald Trump is eager to cancel the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, one of the few Obama policies that increased the prospects for world peace. Trump is closely allied with the extreme right of the Republican Party,... more
It is no surprise that Donald Trump is eager to cancel the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, one of the few Obama policies that increased the prospects for world peace. Trump is closely allied with the extreme right of the Republican Party, which opposed the deal from the start and which is eager to eliminate the Islamist government in Iran either through a direct U.S. invasion or by outsourcing the deed to Israel.
The surprise is that most of the U.S. foreign policy establishment wants to preserve the deal and lobbied hard, though unsuccessfully, to push Trump to recertify Iranian compliance. The future of the deal is now in the hands of Congress under the terms of the legislation that allowed Obama to suspend the sanctions. Sanctions will be reimposed only if majorities in the House and Senate vote to do so. We can expect intense lobbying from the military, from former diplomats, and behind the scenes from the State Department to prevent Congress from acting. Important U.S. business interests have also signaled their opposition to sanctions. This split among elites over Iran policy is longstanding, but since 2015 has matured into more institutionalized form.
The surprise is that most of the U.S. foreign policy establishment wants to preserve the deal and lobbied hard, though unsuccessfully, to push Trump to recertify Iranian compliance. The future of the deal is now in the hands of Congress under the terms of the legislation that allowed Obama to suspend the sanctions. Sanctions will be reimposed only if majorities in the House and Senate vote to do so. We can expect intense lobbying from the military, from former diplomats, and behind the scenes from the State Department to prevent Congress from acting. Important U.S. business interests have also signaled their opposition to sanctions. This split among elites over Iran policy is longstanding, but since 2015 has matured into more institutionalized form.
Research Interests:
Trump wants to seem all-powerful, but big business has a lot of leverage over his administration.
Research Interests:
Donald Trump presents himself as a “hard-driving, vicious cutthroat” leader, unfettered by “special interests,” but he will have to confront the same constraints that all politicians in capitalist societies face. The need to maintain the... more
Donald Trump presents himself as a “hard-driving, vicious cutthroat” leader, unfettered by “special interests,” but he will have to confront the same constraints that all politicians in capitalist societies face. The need to maintain the flow of investments and to minimize economic disruption will force the administration to reconsider implementing parts of its extremist agenda. Understanding these contradictions, and how mass disruption can intensify them, is key to building an effective resistance movement.
Research Interests:
Capitalists routinely exert leverage over governments by withholding the resources — jobs, credit, goods, and services — upon which society depends. The “capital strike” might take the form of layoffs, offshoring jobs and money, denying... more
Capitalists routinely exert leverage over governments by withholding the resources — jobs, credit, goods, and services — upon which society depends. The “capital strike” might take the form of layoffs, offshoring jobs and money, denying loans, or just a credible threat to do those things, along with a promise to relent once government delivers the desired policy changes. Government officials know this power well, and invest great energy and public resources in staving off fits by malcontent capitalists. The profoundly rotten campaign finance system is just one manifestation of business’s domination over government policy. The real power resides in the corporate world’s monopoly over the flow of capital.
Research Interests:
We analyze Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act) as an illustration of the embeddedness of large corporations in US policymaking. The head care industry sectors were centrally involved in the drafting, enacting, and implementation of the... more
We analyze Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act) as an illustration of the embeddedness of large corporations in US policymaking. The head care industry sectors were centrally involved in the drafting, enacting, and implementation of the ACA. This involvement assured that their interests would receive priority, while public opinion and human rights considerations mattered little in shaping the legislation. This process offers a lens through which to understand how and why the government embraces the class interests of the corporate elite.
Research Interests:
The desire to overcome the alienated labor of capitalism manifests itself in the daily actions of people everywhere. John Holloway argues that social movements must build upon this liberatory impulse, challenging not only the rate of... more
The desire to overcome the alienated labor of capitalism manifests itself in the daily actions of people everywhere. John Holloway argues that social movements must build upon this liberatory impulse, challenging not only the rate of exploitation but also workers' loss of control over the process of production and allocation (and, by implication, the loss of control in other arenas of life). Revolutionary change, in turn, will result from these movements creating thousands of 'cracks' in the capitalist system by asserting alternative ways of living. Holloway's argument for prefigurative movements is ambiguous on several points, however: the role of political organizations, the role of alternative institutions, and the appropriate approach of social movements to the state. We propose some friendly amendments, placing greater emphasis on the need for strong political organizations and counter-institutions, but also for selective engagement with dominant institutions. A revolutionary strategy must combine the construction of prefigurative counter-institutions with struggles for reform of existing structures. Yet the dangers of oligarchization and hierarchy within movements are very real, and thus there is a need for structures that are ruthlessly democratic and ideologies that are explicitly intersectional in their approach to fighting different forms of oppression.
Research Interests:
Carbon pollution represents violence on a greater scale than anything humanity has ever seen: it literally threatens the existence of organized human societies. Yet leaders in business and government are not taking the necessary action,... more
Carbon pollution represents violence on a greater scale than anything humanity has ever seen: it literally threatens the existence of organized human societies. Yet leaders in business and government are not taking the necessary action, and most of them are actively making things worse. Ending the climate emergency depends on our ability to take sustained collective action that forces polluters and their accomplices to slash emissions. How has the climate movement been taking action, and with what impact? How can the historical experiences of other social movements inform the climate movement’s strategy? What is the relationship between stopping global heating and fighting white supremacy, class exploitation, imperialism, patriarchy, and other forms of domination? How can we simultaneously fight the climate crisis and build alternative institutions that promote equity, solidarity, and sustainability?
By exploring these questions we will prepare ourselves to confront the climate emergency through informed, collective action. Students have the option of working in a local climate organization or conducting a research project related to the theme.
By exploring these questions we will prepare ourselves to confront the climate emergency through informed, collective action. Students have the option of working in a local climate organization or conducting a research project related to the theme.
Research Interests:
Another world is possible! Social movements everywhere have adopted this slogan in recent decades. Activists in the more distant past were often guided by the same belief. As they struggled to survive in the face of tyranny and... more
Another world is possible! Social movements everywhere have adopted this slogan in recent decades. Activists in the more distant past were often guided by the same belief. As they struggled to survive in the face of tyranny and oppression, many also fought to develop new revolutionary systems based on principles like equity, autonomy, inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability. We will also look at how some "revolutionary" visions have gone wrong, contributing to the oppression of certain groups. Finally, we will consider some radical visions that were ugly and horrific from the start, such as Nazism.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Latin American history is filled with people taking collective action to shape their societies. This course surveys the history of Latin American and Caribbean social movements from the late nineteenth century to the present day, seeking... more
Latin American history is filled with people taking collective action to shape their societies. This course surveys the history of Latin American and Caribbean social movements from the late nineteenth century to the present day, seeking to identify key patterns and lessons in the process. Why have ordinary Latin Americans joined social movements, often at high personal risk? How and when have those movements achieved their goals, and what common obstacles have they faced? What factors have influenced the forms and strategies that movements adopt? Some of the case studies will include labor movements in twentieth-century Chile and Bolivia, peasant/indigenous movements in Mexico and the Andes, feminist and LGBT movements in Brazil and Honduras, mobilization against military dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s, the international campaigns against U.S. intervention in Central America in the 1980s, and recent struggles in defense of natural resources and the environment. We will also consider some of the groups who have mobilized in opposition to these movements.
Research Interests:
Why has the U.S. government intervened so constantly in Latin America, and with what consequences? How have Latin Americans responded? How have people in the United States responded? What is at stake in how we remember (or forget) this... more
Why has the U.S. government intervened so constantly in Latin America, and with what consequences? How have Latin Americans responded? How have people in the United States responded? What is at stake in how we remember (or forget) this history?
This course examines U.S. motives and actions in Latin America, which for our purposes includes the Caribbean as well. We will assess the role of the U.S. government and military but also that of corporations, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the U.S. public. While these foreign actors have wielded tremendous power in the region, they have always operated within contexts partially defined by Latin Americans – an incredibly diverse population including presidents, dictators, militaries, landlords, clergy, industrialists, the middle class, wage workers, enslaved people, peasant farmers, women community leaders, LGBTQ activists, shantytown dwellers, migrants, and hundreds of ethnic groups. U.S. experiences with Latin America have often helped to shape both U.S. society and its interactions with the rest of the world, making this history of vital importance for understanding global history. The course places a special focus on close readings of primary source documents, including declassified government memos, speeches, newspaper reports, political cartoons, and the voices of some of the people who have opposed U.S. policies.
This course examines U.S. motives and actions in Latin America, which for our purposes includes the Caribbean as well. We will assess the role of the U.S. government and military but also that of corporations, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the U.S. public. While these foreign actors have wielded tremendous power in the region, they have always operated within contexts partially defined by Latin Americans – an incredibly diverse population including presidents, dictators, militaries, landlords, clergy, industrialists, the middle class, wage workers, enslaved people, peasant farmers, women community leaders, LGBTQ activists, shantytown dwellers, migrants, and hundreds of ethnic groups. U.S. experiences with Latin America have often helped to shape both U.S. society and its interactions with the rest of the world, making this history of vital importance for understanding global history. The course places a special focus on close readings of primary source documents, including declassified government memos, speeches, newspaper reports, political cartoons, and the voices of some of the people who have opposed U.S. policies.
Research Interests:
Why have poverty and inequality been so persistent in modern Latin American history? What strategies have different people proposed to deal with these problems, and with what consequences? In attempting to answer these questions, we will... more
Why have poverty and inequality been so persistent in modern Latin American history? What strategies have different people proposed to deal with these problems, and with what consequences? In attempting to answer these questions, we will survey the major periods in Latin American and Caribbean economic development, focusing on the last 150 years. Recurring issues will include natural resource extraction, agricultural systems, industrialization, labor conditions, control of the workplace, environmental impacts, the role of the state in the economy, foreign intervention, and the relationship of democracy to the economy. We will pay close attention to the relationship between the economy and political power, social movements, and the non- human environment. The features of “the economy” – who owns what, how wealth is distributed, who bears the costs, and so on – are not natural or inevitable: they are determined to a great extent by human actions and conflicts. Capitalism itself is not natural, either, as the title of this course implies. We will investigate how clashing human visions and interests have shaped economic conditions, social relationships, and the environment.
Research Interests:
How can politically marginalized groups wield collective power? Why do social movements choose the strategies that they do? And what makes them effective? This seminar explores these questions through a survey of theoretical, historical,... more
How can politically marginalized groups wield collective power? Why do social movements choose the strategies that they do? And what makes them effective? This seminar explores these questions through a survey of theoretical, historical, and contemporary perspectives on mass-based resistance. As we will see, scholars and organizers have offered many different answers. Case studies will come particularly from the U.S. context, but also from El Salvador, Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere. The last month of the semester will be partly structured around students’ own interests, with each student researching a social movement of their choosing.
Research Interests:
This course explores Mexico’s society, economy, politics, and culture, with a focus on the last two centuries. We will analyze pre-Hispanic societies and the legacies of Spanish colonialism, the 1846 U.S. invasion of Mexico, land... more
This course explores Mexico’s society, economy, politics, and culture, with a focus on the
last two centuries. We will analyze pre-Hispanic societies and the legacies of Spanish
colonialism, the 1846 U.S. invasion of Mexico, land conflicts of the 19th century, the
famous Revolution of 1910, the consolidation of an authoritarian state, the “Mexican
miracle” of the 1940s-1960s, the adoption of neoliberalism starting in the 1980s, and the
ongoing struggles of workers, peasants, women, students, Indigenous people, and other
groups. Since the formal transition to democracy circa 2000, Mexicans have continued to
face high poverty levels, environmental destruction, an authoritarian and pro-business
state, and massive levels of drug-related violence – factors that help explain the high rate
of migration. We will use our historical knowledge to help make sense of these problems.
last two centuries. We will analyze pre-Hispanic societies and the legacies of Spanish
colonialism, the 1846 U.S. invasion of Mexico, land conflicts of the 19th century, the
famous Revolution of 1910, the consolidation of an authoritarian state, the “Mexican
miracle” of the 1940s-1960s, the adoption of neoliberalism starting in the 1980s, and the
ongoing struggles of workers, peasants, women, students, Indigenous people, and other
groups. Since the formal transition to democracy circa 2000, Mexicans have continued to
face high poverty levels, environmental destruction, an authoritarian and pro-business
state, and massive levels of drug-related violence – factors that help explain the high rate
of migration. We will use our historical knowledge to help make sense of these problems.
Research Interests:
It’s no secret that the 1% exercises enormous control over the US government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic... more
It’s no secret that the 1% exercises enormous control over the US government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic resources on which daily life depends. Government officials must constantly strive to keep capitalists happy, lest they go on “capital strike”—that is, refuse to invest in particular industries or locations, or move their holdings to other countries—and therefore impose material hardship on specific groups or the economy as a whole. For this reason, even politicians who are not dependent on corporations for their electoral success must fend off the interruption of corporate investment. Levers of Power documents the pervasive power of corporations and other institutions with decision-making control over large pools of capital, particularly the Pentagon. It also shows that the most successful reform movements in recent US history—for workers’ rights, for civil rights, and against imperialist wars—succeeded by directly targeting the corporations and other institutional adversaries that initiated and benefitted from oppressive policies. Though most of today’s social movements focus on elections and politicians, movements of the 99% are most effective when they inflict direct costs on corporations and their allied institutions. This strategy is also more conducive to building a revolutionary mass movement that can replace current institutions with democratic alternatives.