archive

The basis for an alternative

Benjamin J. Richardson (UBC): A Damp Squib: Environmental Law from a Human Evolutionary Perspective. From the Graduate Journal of Social Science, a special issue on Transgender Studies. An interview with Dean Spade, America’s first openly transgendered law professor, on the power of zines, the sacrifice social movements require, and the limits of legal reform. After Three Mile Island: Christian Parenti on the rise and fall of nuclear safety culture. Still crusading, but now on the inside: Samantha Power, President Obama’s adviser on foreign policy, champions the idea that nations have a moral obligation to prevent genocide. Revolution and liberalism just don’t mix: Simmering just beneath the ideals is something far less noble — the pull of solidarity. The Island Nation: Japan will rebuild, but not how you think — and 20 years of misread history holds the clues. While defining prostitution as "sex work" implies entitlements, it also glosses over gendered inequality; can the abolitionist arguments of the nineteenth century provide the basis for an alternative? A look at what reindeer herding reveals about communism. Gaffes, lies, and dumb mistakes, which politicians spread falsehoods? From Palin to Bachmann to Biden, The Daily Beast ranks the country’s 10 most ill-informed leaders. From Popular Mechanics, a series on how to disaster-proof your life. Deeper into commodification: Social media represents new threats to and possibilities for the perceived moral basis of capitalism. The Manhattan Meltdown Scenario: Antinuclear activist Helen Caldicott on how New York’s nightmare would unfold. The Fukushima nuclear disaster: How will U.S. energy policy be affected? How pornography drugs and changes your brain: The mind likes what it sees and then rewards (with pheromones) the body.