Roundup

Can Capitalism Exist Without Excess?

by Trevor Jackson

The pandemic supply chain disruptions have focused attention on shortages, but the problem of gluts—of food being destroyed when it can't be profitably sold–reflects a deeper problem with global capitalism. 

The Writer's Strike Highlights Digital Feudalism of the Entertainment Industry

by David Arditi

Like the enclosure movement that pushed English serfs off the land into precarious urban or vagabond lives, Hollywood's embrace of the gig economy model means that the writers whose labor creates entertainment can't count on stability or livable wages. 

Faculty and Librarians Must be Allies in the Fight to Save Higher Ed

by Emily Drabinski

"A robust defense of free expression requires an equally vociferous defense of the institutions where that speech is most widely celebrated. The fight for higher education must be a fight for the library as well."

Arlington Cemetery Will Remove its Racist Confederate Monument, but Some Won't Let it Go

by Erin L. Thompson

The Arlington Confederate Memorial, according to a Defense Department review, mythologizes history so severely that no contextualizing signage could overcome its embodiment of the Lost Cause myths that justified Jim Crow. Some adherents of that myth are mad. 

Joe Louis was the World's Most Popular Athlete; Racist Businessmen Refused to Let Him Endorse Fords

by Silke-Maria Weineck

Market research documents related to the Ford Motor Company's refusal to grant retired champ Joe Louis a dealership franchise reveal a combination of middle-class prejudice and the willingness of the business world to accommodate Jim Crow. 

Ayahs, Amahs and Empire: The History of Domestic Care Work under Colonialism

by Julia Laite

The history of domestic and child care work has become increasingly robust, but museums and public exhibitions have struggled to find ways to represent the work and experiences of women, many from south Asia, who traveled with white colonial families to perform this labor, putting marginalized people in charge of the empire's children. 

Proud Boys' Convictions for Seditious Conspiracy Won't End the Far Right Threat

by Tom Mockaitis

Despite the conviction of leading organizers of the January 6 attack on the Capitol (which aimed at overturning Joe Biden's election), the extreme right will remain a threat, partly because of the flourishing of online channels for hate and partly because the Republican Party has framed the insurrection as legitimate political expression. 

The Coronation was a Modern Charade of Historical Continuity

by Fintan O'Toole

The pomp and ceremony of Charles III's coronation is largely a recent creation, invented to declare the continued importance and power of a monarchy that is vanishing in real significance. 

Librarians Remind Faculty that Academic Freedom is a Labor Issue

by Danya Leebaw

"Librarians’ work is essential to the academic mission and also often comes under scrutiny from administrators, faculty colleagues, and the public."

Higher Ed Institutions Push Diversity to Avoid Dealing with Justice

by Ariana González Stokas

"Beginning with Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978, diversity became a proxy for the real work of remedying persistent and entrenched exclusions based on race and gender."

North Carolina Legislature Insults State's Students and Teachers with "Heritage Act"

by Kathleen DuVal

A new bill claims to fix a void in college students' understanding of America's "constitutional heritage." But if the state is enforcing its K-12 standards, there should be no problem to fix. A professor of early American history wonders what else is driving the legislature. 

The Roundup Top Ten for May 5, 2023

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

Not Your Grandfather's Military-Industrial Complex

by Ben Freeman and William D. Hartung

Eisenhower warned of the power of the military and industry to shape America's priorities and warp society in their own interests. He had no idea of how bad it could get. 

Shameful Echoes of the 1950s Lavender Scare

by David K. Johnson

At the height of the McCarthy era, a bipartisan congressional committee concluded that gay and lesbian personnel should be purged from government service because of the alleged "weakness of their moral fiber." Teaching this history could make students more able to recognize political moral panics today. 

Abortion Restrictions Aimed at Minors Will Never Stop There

by Mary Ziegler

In the years after Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents recognized both that children didn't always enjoy the same constitutional protections as adults and that many voters would separate "parental rights" from the organized effort to roll back abortion rights. The ploy was effective, and is being repeated in legislation banning travel to access abortion.

Climate Policy Needs a Return to Land Reform

by Jo Guldi

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the United Nations' international development agenda took its cues from struggles for decolonization from Ireland to India, making the redistribution of rural land a top priority. Is this the key to more effective climate change mitigation? 

Would the American Right Crash the Economy for Political Advantage? Ask Chile

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

From the moment socialist Salvador Allende was declared the winner of Chile's 1970 election, Henry Kissinger and CIA director Richard Helms were at work to "make the economy scream" to create favorable conditions for a right-wing coup. 

How to Get Americans To Embrace Constitutional Amendments Again

by Kate Shaw and Julie K. Suk

As recent Supreme Court decisions on guns and abortion rights have made many Americans fear the loss of basic rights, reviving the effort to pass the Equal Rights Amendment can remind Americans that nine people in robes don't have to be the final authority on the Constitution. 

Why "Progressives" Want to go Back to the 1950s

by Walter Russell Mead

Biden's developing economic and trade policies reflect a turning away from the free market "Washington Consensus" led by Democratic policymakers like Larry Summers. The political benefits of embracing protection, populism and labor seem clear, but the economic effects are uncertain. 

Should Jimmy Carter's Coming Departure Change How We Memorialize Presidents?

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

"When does respect and gratitude transfer from the office to the person—and when does that become inappropriate in a republic?" A presidential historian argues for emphasizing Carter's service while a private citizen as a way of emphasizing that the president is a first-among-equals citizen.