In these times of crisis and calamity, where can we look for hope and encouragement? According to David McNally, people are coming together and creating exciting new democratic practices in locales around the globe. He points to grassroots experiments in radical democracy and truly participatory decision making in places like Tunisia, Egypt, Oaxaca, and Cochabamba.
Hinderliter et al., eds., Communities of Sense: Rethinking Aesthetics and Politics Duke U. Press, 2009
David Joselit, Feedback: Television Against Democracy MIT Press, 2007
What happens to people in suburbs and exurbs? What kind of political community is produced there? And what role do, and can, pictures and images play in situating humans as isolated and aloof, or communal and democratic? David Joselit shares his perspective on these and other issues. (Encore broadcast.)
McChesney & Nichols, The Death and Life of American Journalism Nation Books, 2010
Reporters by the thousands are being let go; newspapers and foreign bureaus are disappearing. Why is this happening, and what impact does journalism's crisis have on democracy? At a recent event, Robert McChesney and John Nichols addressed these questions and cited early US governmental support for journalism.
Daniel Geary, Radical Ambition: C. Wright Mills, the Left, and American Social Thought UC Press, 2009
C. Wright Mills liked to think big. His analyses of power elites, white collar workplaces, the Cuban Revolution, and potential sources of radical social transformation were influential with thinkers, activists, and concerned citizens in many parts of the globe. Daniel Geary describes Mills's ideas and their impact on a number of social movements, especially the New Left.
Hinderliter et al., eds., Communities of Sense: Rethinking Aesthetics and Politics Duke U. Press, 2009
David Joselit, Feedback: Television Against Democracy MIT Press, 2007
What happens to people in suburbs and exurbs? What kind of political community is produced there? And what role do, and can, pictures and images play in situating humans as isolated and aloof, or communal and democratic? David Joselit shares his perspective on these and other issues.
Has the Internet ushered in a new era of mass participation and greater democracy? Or has the communications and networking revolution encouraged millions on the Left to be politically passive, while neoliberal capitalism strengthens its position? In her new book Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies, Jodi Dean reconsiders the democratic potential of communications media.
