Here are some thoughts regarding the January 6th insurgency. Conspiracy theories and misinformation are playing a pivotal role in motivating unrest. There is recent scholarship about the nature of contemporary conspiracy theories that many see, which seems to be light on theory and strong on claims. Such conspiracism targets democratic Continue Reading
Theories
Treating Politics Like Entertainment
Observing the state of politics today vexes my spirit. The polarization, the vitriol that spills out of social media and into the real world, and the lost art of empathy and compromise serve the world’s democracies poorly. There is no lack of explanations or reasons for our state of affairs: Continue Reading
Antifa Hysteria: Understanding a Moral Panic
According to certain media personalities, pundits, politicians, and clergymen, the United States faces an enemy who threatens to unravel the social fabric. That enemy has a name, and that name is antifa. In recent weeks rumors proliferated how busloads of antifa anarchists were on their way to small towns across Continue Reading
The problem with saying, “We are one race.”
The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police fills me with anger and sadness, and I hope that justice will prevail. Black lives matter, and I do not want to see another person fall victim to systemic racism and police brutality. I agree with those who say that Continue Reading
Of Foxes, Hedgehogs, and Trolls
While taking a break from endless COVID-19 news stories, and hoping to have something new to talk about with my pre-school nieces and nephews, I watched the most recent DreamWorks Animation film, Trolls World Tour. After watching the ending credits, my first thought was how marvelously it illustrated the ideas Continue Reading
Pandemics, Hegemony and Global Cooperation
I had not yet decided which coronavirus related topic I would write about next when I heard the news that the sitting president of the United States—amid a global pandemic of historic proportions—pulled America’s funding from the World Health Organization. I should not have been shocked, despite the perversity of Continue Reading
Nativism, Sinophobia, and COVID-19
In a nativist worldview, nations should be both culturally and ethnically homogenous. However, no nation on earth has such ethnic and cultural purity. Such a construct of nationhood goes against the central pillar of modern liberal democracies—pluralism—which holds that a society consists of separate groups with diverse and competing interests, each of which should be taken as legitimate.
Some Thoughts on the COVID-19 Pandemic
I found returning to this blog difficult for reasons that not only include adjusting to “shelter in place” realities but also because it is not easy to wrap my head around the enormity of our situation. Now that I had time to settle into the new normal (while growing my Continue Reading
Trump and Sanders: Populism and the Mobilization of Resentment
As the election of Trump and the rise of Bernie Sanders attests, Americans are living in populist times. But, what does ‘populism’ mean, and does it deserve its negative reputation? What are the sources of anger that Trump and Sanders tap into as populist candidates? Today, I delve into those Continue Reading
Expanding Minority Rights Sours Many Citizens on Democracy
In a new article, Christopher Claassen provides evidence that supports a theory that public opinion reacts to government policies by moving in the opposite direction.1 That is, if the public perceives that policy has shifted too far in one direction (conservative or liberal), their preference is for it to go Continue Reading