By Ted Fertik. “We don’t yet know what happens to freely-elected left-leaning governments when their populations rebel against them not because they want less social justice, but because they want more.” Why Brazil’s middle-class rebelled. _______________________________________________________________________ What makes the Brazilian political crisis unique among the mass protests that have erupted in many corners of the globe over the past years is that its roots are to be found not...| The Utopian
By Sam Munson. “I knew I was lost. Or would be in moments, as soon as this peruke reached me, this peruke at rest on the splendid head of my old foe, my single foe, my one declared foe and thus my archfoe, the long-dead German philosopher Immanuel Kant.” A short story. ____________________________________________________________________ I thought only Sligo had heard my moronic remark. But it became apparent, from the way Mark Dienst was twisting his mouth in embarrassment (mine, not his)...| The Utopian
By Justin E. H. Smith. “Thorough, scientific anthropology can amount to something close to advocacy: it shows the richness of other worlds, and therefore the tragedy of destroying them.” Justin E. H. Smith defends anthropology as science and advocacy—against both the postmodern turn and the simplistic scientism of Napoleon Chagnon. _____________________________________________________________________ “Among” is a curious preposition. Today it seems to be used mostly to describe the ...| The Utopian
By Kiel Brennan-Marquez. “Institutional politics can become a source of delight, no less imaginative than its revolutionary counterpart – but narrower, and more disciplined.” How the left should respond to injustice. ________________________________________________________________________ George Carlin once offered a memorable proposal to revamp the war on drugs. The year was 1996, and the American public was clamoring to make dealing a capital offense. Carlin found this solution miscon...| The Utopian
By Philip Mirowski. Neoliberals are not fundamentalists. But they approach crises with a certain logic–one that is directly relevant to comprehending neoliberalism’s unexpected strength in the current global crisis. _______________________________________________________________________ Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, the neoliberal project stood out from other strains of right-wing thought in that it was self-consciously constituted as an entity dedicated to the deve...| The Utopian