Tea Party Politics: Flirting with Fascism
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
The rapid national organization of the Tea Party has become one of the most extraordinary developments in American politics since the election of Barack Obama. Depending on one’s perspective, it is either a diverse movement or a confused one. In truth it is both, but only because it is a cover for more than one movement. What we […]
The Militarization of Crowd Control
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
The Group of 20 (G-20) Summit protests in Pittsburgh this past September were a threshold event. Not only were protestors detained and beaten by the police, but they were also subjected to new military-grade technologies that have pushed the boundaries of what kinds of actions are permissible for controlling large crowds of protestors, unruly or not. […]
Our Planet, Our Selves
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
The End of Food by Paul Roberts. Houghton Mifflin (2008) Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture by Thom Hartmann. Viking Press (2009) As we move closer to the tipping point of climate change, where we’ll lose control of our ability to influence atmospheric conditions on Earth, it’s probably time to reevaluate how everyday habits got us here. […]
On the Musical Genealogy of Neko Case
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
This review is an attempt to assess the latest work of Neko Case within a broader genealogy of mostly North American guitar songwriters. It imagines these songwriters as a collective voice cut into discrete consciousnesses, contributing to one long, dissonant narrative on the rolling American stone. For the sake of argument, then, Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone might […]
Debting on the Future
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
JUSTIN ROGERS-COOPER For many graduate students, becoming an academic means developing a set of personal beliefs about debt. My scholastic history is a history of debt and borrowing. During my suburban high school years northwest of Columbus, Ohio, my parents assured me that we could afford the very best college. My “hard work” would determine my future, […]
Democracy’s Demons: Inside the Mind of the American Voter
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
JUSTIN ROGERS-COOPER The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan (2008) Just How Stupid Are We? by Rick Shenkman (2008) Red State Blue State Rich State Poor State by Andrew Gelman (2008) Recent stories of America’s relatively abrupt fall from “exceptionalism” typically trace the corruption and incompetence of the executive branch. Much of this commentary […]
China, New York, and the American Way
by Justin Rogers-Cooper
What does the success of the “genocide” Olympics mean for the future of US politics, and even for the election in November? At first glance, this may sound like a minor foreign policy issue. After all, didn’t George Bush basically agree with people like Steven Spielberg about the need to “honestly” criticize the Chinese regime? Isn’t […]
