Roundup

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. 

Commemoration of the Tulsa Massacre Has Put Symbolism Over Justice for the Victims

by Victor Luckerson

"The neighborhood’s historical fame has become a kind of albatross slung over Black Tulsans’ necks, as efforts at building concrete pathways toward justice are buried under hollow symbolism."

Neoliberalism: Not Dead Yet

by Brett Christophers

The reassertion of state power over economies during the COVID pandemic shouldn't yet be taken as a sign of a turn away from the dominance of finance capital over the global economy and politics – market fundamentalism is only one part of the system. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

The Roundup Top Ten for May 25, 2023

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

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. 

The Hollywood Blacklist, Screenwriters and Free Expression Under Attack

by Larry Ceplair

The current screenwriters' strike is occasion to look back at the targeting of writers by HUAC in the 1950s, the politics of moral panic, and the impact of political fear on the content of popular culture.

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.

"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. 

Have Corporations Captured Social Science Research through Donations?

by Nina Strohminger Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

From decisionmaking to climate change, a focus on individual choices has flourished in social scientific research at the expense of sytemic change. Is corporate enthusiasm for funding this research any coincidence? 

Statehouses, not Stanford Students, Threaten Speech on Campus

by Eduardo Peñalver

Higher ed administrators have recently flexed their muscle in response to student protests of controversial speakers and demands for content warnings. They appear to have no such sense of purpose when it comes to defending free speech and free inquiry from legislative interference. 

Conservatives Hate Tenure (Except for Clarence Thomas)

by Tom Nichols

Right-wing politicians with Ivy League degrees are eager to attack tenure at public institutions for political gain, but won't abide questions about Clarence Thomas's integrity.