Category: Featured
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On Protests, Violence and Public Support
On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted aggressive raids in Los Angeles, sweeping up gainfully employed workers with no criminal record. This lead to demonstrations outside of the Los Angeles Federal Building. During these protests, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California, was arrested alongside more than 100 others –…
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Book Announcement: Those People
Increased stratification and declining social mobility. A crisis of expertise. The rise of “populist” leaders. Heightened tensions around “identity politics.” Growing affective polarization. Political dealignments and realignments. These are not separate phenomena, they’re fronts in a broader struggle over which communities, stakeholders, lines of work, lifestyles and cultures are valued in contemporary society – and…
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It’s Easy to Misunderstand Antisemitism in America
According to many popular contemporary narratives, American society is rife with antisemitism. Institutions of higher learning are purportedly hotbeds of anti-Jewish animus, indoctrinating impressionable young people into a leftist ideology that paints Jews as extraordinarily privileged, Israelis as oppressors, Hamas as brave freedom fighters and Palestinians as blameless victims. Many people I deeply respect have embraced claims like these…
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Contextualizing Ideological Gaps in Mental Illness and Well-Being
In a recent essay for Social Science & Medicine – Mental Health, epidemiologist Catherine Gimbrone and co-authors identified a significant gap in depressive attitudes between liberal and conservative teens. This gap was present in all years observed in the study (2005-2018). However, it grew significantly starting in 2012, as depressive affect unilaterally spiked among liberals.…
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The ‘Great Awokening’ Is Winding Down
Beginning in 2011, there was a rapid shift in the ways people associated with the knowledge economy talk about, and engage on, ‘social justice’ issues. Those who work in fields like tech, finance, education, journalism, arts, entertainment, design and consulting (and students who aspired to these professions) grew much more politically ‘radical’ over the…
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Diversity is Important. Diversity-Related Training is Terrible.
In wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests that followed, many colleges and universities have been rolling out new training requirements – often oriented towards reducing biases and encouraging people from high-status groups to ‘check their privilege.’ The explicit goal of these training programs is generally to help create a more positive and welcoming…