In the June 23 NYC Democratic primary elections, recently-elected mayor Zohran Mamdani pulled off a series of coups. He put forward a slate of allies who defeated three candidates favored by New York governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – including two incumbent politicians. A lot of… Continue reading Midterm Primary Cycles Are Ripe for Unorthodox Candidates
Tag: Progressive
Don’t Overinterpret the 2025 Elections
It’s been a rough decade for the political left in the U.S. In 2012 and 2014, Democrats saw extreme losses in both chambers of Congress. In 2016, they lost the White House to Donald Trump too. In 2020, Democrats took back the presidency, but it was obvious even then that the party had no mandate and its electoral coalition… Continue reading Don’t Overinterpret the 2025 Elections
LGBT Identity, Elites, and Inequality
Beginning in the period between the world wars, and accelerating over the last half-century, the global economic order and political sphere have been restructured to the benefit of a category of people I call “symbolic capitalists.” Who are symbolic capitalists? Folks who make a living from what they know, who they know, and how they’re known. People who work in fields… Continue reading LGBT Identity, Elites, and Inequality
Democrats Won’t Save Universities
The Trump Administration has withheld $400 million dollars in federal funds from Columbia University and vowed to remove even more if the president’s demands are not met. Columbia has an endowment of $14.8 billion and an annual operating budget of $6.6 billion. The cuts amount to roughly 6 percent of their annual budget – a… Continue reading Democrats Won’t Save Universities
How Victimhood Became a Commodity
According to the prevailing narrative, it is a disadvantage to be non-white as compared to white. To be LGBTQ as compared to straight. To be a woman as compared to a man. To be a religious minority as opposed to a Christian. To be neurodivergent or disabled as compared to being neurotypical and able-bodied. Undergirding… Continue reading How Victimhood Became a Commodity
The Absurd Spectacle at Columbia Occludes the Grim Realities of Gaza
To understand broad trends, it can often be helpful to dig into a particular case. With respect to the tumult over the encampments protesting the U.S. backed Israeli offensive in Gaza, it would be hard to find a more illuminating example than Columbia University. Here, we can clearly observe students’ sincere but contradictory concern for… Continue reading The Absurd Spectacle at Columbia Occludes the Grim Realities of Gaza
We Have Never Been Woke: pre-orders now live
I am pleased to report that my first book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, now has an official release date: October 8, 2024. Even better, hardcover editions are now available for preorder on Bookshop.org, Thriftbooks, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and through most other major retailers. You can also… Continue reading We Have Never Been Woke: pre-orders now live
Bill and Hillary Clinton Revolutionized U.S. Politics (Twice)
Joe Biden’s approval rating has been consistently underwater for most of his presidency. Although there has been a bit of improvement, the president continues to trail Trump in most swing states. Eager to turn around his fortunes, Biden has sought to enlist the Clintons into his reelection bid – starting with Hillary, who hosted a… Continue reading Bill and Hillary Clinton Revolutionized U.S. Politics (Twice)
It’s the (Knowledge) Economy, Stupid
The biggest divide in American politics at present is not along the lines of socioeconomic status (SES), nor educational attainment, nor type (urban, suburban, small town, rural), nor gender – although these factors all serve as important proxies for the distinction that matters most. The key schism that lies at the heart of dysfunction within… Continue reading It’s the (Knowledge) Economy, Stupid
One Lesson To Learn From Ted Kaczynski
Ted Kaczynski was recognized as a genius at an early age. He graduated high school at age 15, began attending Harvard at 16, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at 20. Five years later, he had attained a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Michigan. The next fall, he began teaching at the University of… Continue reading One Lesson To Learn From Ted Kaczynski
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.… Continue reading Contextualizing Ideological Gaps in Mental Illness and Well-Being
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… Continue reading The ‘Great Awokening’ Is Winding Down
Democrats Will Lose the House in 2022. It Probably Doesn’t Matter What They Do.
In the Abrahamic religions, there is a profound mystery in how to reconcile belief in free will with faith in divine providence. Similar mysteries lie at the heart of political science. For instance, over the past 45 years, every time there has been a change of party in the White House, the opposing party won… Continue reading Democrats Will Lose the House in 2022. It Probably Doesn’t Matter What They Do.
On Clarence Thomas, White Liberals and Racial Politics
There were six Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade this week. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Samuel Alito. However, in the aftermath of the ruling, there has been an intense and particular focus on a different justice: Clarence Thomas. This may have been in part a product of Thomas’… Continue reading On Clarence Thomas, White Liberals and Racial Politics
The Loneliest Americans
Jay Caspian Kang’s life story is both extraordinary and somewhat normal for families like his. That’s kind of the point. His parents’ family had roots in North Korea, although they fled to the South in the leadup and aftermath of what is known in America as the ‘Korean War.’ Upon getting married, and for very… Continue reading The Loneliest Americans
The Media’s ‘Great Awokening’ Preceded Trump and has Continued Uninterrupted Since He Was Deposed
Over the last five years, poll after poll has found that the GOP base has grown warmer towards Blacks, Hispanics, immigrants and Muslims. They’ve simultaneously become more skeptical of Christian nationalism. They’re now significantly more accepting of same sex marriage and non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans. The rest of America has shifted even further in… Continue reading The Media’s ‘Great Awokening’ Preceded Trump and has Continued Uninterrupted Since He Was Deposed
On the ‘Great Awokening’ and Racial Realities
Is there anything of which one might say, ‘See this, it is new?’ Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also, of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who come later still.” Ecclesiastes 1: 10-11… Continue reading On the ‘Great Awokening’ and Racial Realities
The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
American liberals often charge that Christians seem unusually preoccupied (even obsessed) with sex and sexuality, and have a bunch of strange hang-ups about marriage and family structure. Conservatives, meanwhile, argue that the “traditional family” lies at the core of Western Civilization, and that weakening foundational norms around sex, marriage, and child-rearing would likely have destabilizing… Continue reading The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
How Our Social Networks Shape Our Politics
An ambitious new project, the American National Social Network Survey, looks at the social networks of thousands of Americans over time, exploring how who people associate with affects their worldview. The project is sponsored by AEI and the Knight Foundation, carried out in partnership with NORC (who administer the General Social Survey). The latest report from the project,… Continue reading How Our Social Networks Shape Our Politics
Why Reflexivity is Important for Research and Activism
In a recent essay for Public Seminar, I explored Amy Cooper’s attempts to sic police on a black man for telling her to leash her dog. I argued that her actions should not be understood as novel or surprising, and explained how her likely (liberal) sociopolitical orientation may have contributed to how the confrontation played… Continue reading Why Reflexivity is Important for Research and Activism
Who Defines What ‘Racist’ Means ?
One key insight of the “discursive turn” in social research is that how concepts are defined, and by whom, reveals a lot about power relations within a society or culture. These definitions are not just reflections of social dynamics, but can have important socio-political consequences downstream: they can help legitimize or delegitimize individuals, groups and… Continue reading Who Defines What ‘Racist’ Means ?
What Coronavirus Reveals About the Lifestyles of the Professional-Managerial Class
In New York City and throughout the country, the professional-managerial class is hunkered down and making the best of a bad situation: working remotely, enjoying time with their families, making sure their children stay up on their schoolwork, finding ways to work out, exercising self-care, and catching up on all the shows they’ve wanted to… Continue reading What Coronavirus Reveals About the Lifestyles of the Professional-Managerial Class
On Heterodox Academy and Effective Advocacy
I began working with Heterodox Academy in the fall of 2016, about a year after the group was formed. At that time, the organization (such as it was) was a handful of interesting people who met in Jon Haidt’s NYU office every week to talk about current events, ideas for blog posts and external publications,… Continue reading On Heterodox Academy and Effective Advocacy
Students are Ideologically Diverse. Here’s How to Surface that Diversity.
It has long been a talking point on the right that leftist professors are ‘indoctrinating’ college kids (an elaboration on why many quite reasonably hold this belief is available here). However, a number of recent studies suggest that this narrative is incorrect: students can reliably determine what their professors’ political beliefs are, and when they… Continue reading Students are Ideologically Diverse. Here’s How to Surface that Diversity.
Positionality and Homogeneity in Social Research: Towards a Holistic Exploration
Callosal disconnection syndrome, more colloquially known as ‘split brain syndrome’ occurs when the connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain are disrupted or severed. The condition often makes it difficult for people to fully access and synthesize various flows of information or to properly coordinate their actions. This is, perhaps, a perfect… Continue reading Positionality and Homogeneity in Social Research: Towards a Holistic Exploration
Refashioning Futures: Criticism after Postcoloniality
“Political discussion possesses a character fundamentally different from academic discussion. It seeks not to be in the right, but also to demolish the basis of its opponents social and intellectual existence… Political conflict, since it is from the very beginning a rationalized form of the struggle for social predominance, attacks the social status of the… Continue reading Refashioning Futures: Criticism after Postcoloniality
Against Reactionary and Myopic Approaches to Higher Ed Reform
“The appeal to ‘social justice’ has by now become the most widely used and most effective argument in political discussion. Almost every claim for government action on behalf of particular groups is made in its name, and if it can be made to appear that a certain measure is demanded by ‘social justice,’ opposition to… Continue reading Against Reactionary and Myopic Approaches to Higher Ed Reform
(Why) Liberal Faculty Don’t Discriminate Against Conservative Students in Grading
Many right-of-center students (especially those who are grade-obsessed) fear that their professors will punish them for their political and cultural views if they were to express them in class discussions or assignments – and choose to self-censor instead. It’s easy to understand why they are concerned: there is a significant lack of ideological diversity among… Continue reading (Why) Liberal Faculty Don’t Discriminate Against Conservative Students in Grading
How Universities Help Shape Local and Regional Politics
In a previous essay, I demonstrated that there seems to be a longstanding relationship between the ideological skew of colleges and universities, and the political leanings of the communities they are embedded in. Over the last 30 years, university faculty have shifted dramatically leftward – and so have the communities hosting elite private universities, the… Continue reading How Universities Help Shape Local and Regional Politics
Longitudinal Trends: Ideological Diversity In Universities v. Surrounding Communities
In a recent book, Land Grant Universities for the Future, Stephen Gavazzi and Gordon Gee analyze polling data from land grant universities and their host communities and find that institutions of higher learning tend to be “islands of blue” which mirror state capitals and major urban areas, inside “vast seas of red” – i.e. the… Continue reading Longitudinal Trends: Ideological Diversity In Universities v. Surrounding Communities
You Can’t Change the World From a ‘Safe Space.’
Most of us who go into the humanities and social sciences don’t just want to understand social problems — we want to help resolve them as well. There strong agreement about what our societies’ biggest problems are (for instance, inequality), and broadly, how to go about solving them (i.e. harness expertise and leverage the state or… Continue reading You Can’t Change the World From a ‘Safe Space.’
What Was Elizabeth Warren Thinking?
Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly identified herself as Cherokee. For most of her early career, while she worked at the University of Texas, this was not the case. However, beginning in the mid 1980s, as she was aspiring to move from University of Texas to the Ivy Leagues, she also began identifying herself as ‘Native American’… Continue reading What Was Elizabeth Warren Thinking?
On the Sokal Squared/ Grievance Studies Hoax
Over the past year, Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay & Peter Boghossian published a series of hoax papers in humanities journals oriented towards the “critical study” of gender and sexuality. Their plot was discovered midway through, forcing them to go public prematurely. In a journal-length essay explaining their methods, findings, and intentions, “Academic Grievance Studies and… Continue reading On the Sokal Squared/ Grievance Studies Hoax
(How) The Lack of Conservatives in the Academy Harms Progressive Scholars (Most)
It is no longer a matter of dispute whether increasing diversity of perspectives enriches understanding of social issues. Conversations about diversity at institutions of higher learning typically turn on questions of race, gender and sexuality. More recently, class, geography and the intersections between categories of underrepresentation have been integrated into the discussion. However, viewpoint diversity… Continue reading (How) The Lack of Conservatives in the Academy Harms Progressive Scholars (Most)
Any Progressive Scholar Could End Up Like George Ciccariello-Maher
George Ciccariello-Maher, formerly an Associate Professor of Politics & Global Studies at Drexel University, was effectively forced out of his position after describing the Las Vegas massacre as a product of a ‘white supremacist patriarchy’ which must be dismantled. In truth, this is actually a fairly standard narrative among progressives in response to mass shootings… Continue reading Any Progressive Scholar Could End Up Like George Ciccariello-Maher
Progressives, Vulnerable Groups Most in Need of Campus Free Speech Protections
Harvard President Drew Faust gave a ringing endorsement of free speech in her recent 2017 commencement address. There was, however, one passage where Faust chose to focus on the price of Harvard’s commitment to free speech, arguing that it “is paid disproportionately by” those students who don’t fit the traditional profile of being “white, male,… Continue reading Progressives, Vulnerable Groups Most in Need of Campus Free Speech Protections
Social Research Will Benefit from Greater Ideological Diversity
Beginning in the late 18th century, post-secondary education was restructured across Europe—in part under the auspices of accelerating the transition to an envisioned rational and secular age.[1] In order to enroll the broadest swath of the public in this enterprise, institutions and curricula were rendered more accessible, inclusive, and professionally-oriented. Similarly, across the pond, in… Continue reading Social Research Will Benefit from Greater Ideological Diversity
An Emerging Democratic Majority? Don’t Count on It.
“What is at stake in the conflict over representations of the future is nothing other than the attitude of the declining classes to their decline—either demoralization, which leads to a rout….or mobilization, which leads to the collective search for a collective solution to the crisis.What can make the difference is, fundamentally, the possession of… Continue reading An Emerging Democratic Majority? Don’t Count on It.
Who Cares About Bernie Sanders’ Historic Candidacy?
In March 2016, the Green Party nominated Dr. Jill Stein as their candidate for President of the United States. They have had female vice-presidential nominees on every single ticket since 1996, and ran all-female tickets in 2008 and 2012. But unfortunately, the highest the Green Party has ever performed in a general election was in… Continue reading Who Cares About Bernie Sanders’ Historic Candidacy?
Hillary Clinton Is No Friend of Black Empowerment
As an African American, I have struggled to understand why so many of brothers and sisters seem to prefer Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Some have argued that black people are terrified at the prospect of a Trump presidency, and so they rally around Clinton under the belief that she is more electable in the… Continue reading Hillary Clinton Is No Friend of Black Empowerment
On the Philosophical Underpinnings of Conservativism
What do conservatives stand for? One popular narrative is that conservatives cling to tradition and resist change. There is an element of truth to this description in that conservatives do value tradition–albeit not for its own sake. Rather, out of the conviction that systems and institutions which have proven themselves over the course of generations… Continue reading On the Philosophical Underpinnings of Conservativism
No, Ammon Bundy is NOT a terrorist.
On Saturday January 2nd, citizens of Burns, Oregon held a rally protesting the sentencing of Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. The local demonstration was co-opted by a militia, led by Nevada-native Ammon Bundy, now calling itself “Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.” Following its participation in the planned protest, the militia seized and continues to illegally… Continue reading No, Ammon Bundy is NOT a terrorist.
Today’s Republican Party, neither Religious nor Conservative
Whistling “zippity doo da” as he stepped into the briefing room, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he would be vacating his position as Speaker, and also his seat in the Senate, at the end of October—after pushing through a bill to fund the government and ensuring there will be no government shutdown. The announcement… Continue reading Today’s Republican Party, neither Religious nor Conservative
Don’t say Black Lives Matter, prove it.
Let’s be clear: for various reasons a large swath of Americans support institutionalized racism, both actively and passively. And in light of the pivotal role the police have played, and continue to play, in preserving the systems, institutions and dynamics which undergird racial inequality in the U.S.–powerful backlash against Black Lives Matter was to be… Continue reading Don’t say Black Lives Matter, prove it.
It’s Time to Stop Patronizing White People
On average, whites are far better off than blacks. But the problem with averages is that they often conceal radically uneven distribution of the phenomena in question. This is certainly true of wealth among white Americans. It is well-established that white people are overrepresented in the upper classes. And even in the middle class, whites… Continue reading It’s Time to Stop Patronizing White People
Universal Values v. Universal Laws
The liberal notion of universal law derives its supposed normative force from an ill-defined notion of universal values. This notion of universality is tied conceptually and historically to Western imperialism—and many of the values taken to be “universal” are not. But even if, for the sake of argument, we presupposed the existence of some set of… Continue reading Universal Values v. Universal Laws