The Prestige Economy as Frankenstein’s New Monster
Since 2008, the illusion of prestige has deceived millions of Americans into working for free—or worse, paying to work.
By Sarah Kendzior
The Fascist Reign in Spain
Francisco Franco, perhaps the ultimate litmus test for twentieth-century political ideology, gets a new biography of merit. But in attempting a more judicious portrait of Spain's most preeminent political figure, the authors often overlook considerable atrocities.
The Uncertain Power of Blackness
A new book reveals how Du Bois wrestled with many of the questions that trouble Americans today: the difficulty of discussing the connective bonds of race without reifying it, the challenge of rooting the concept of blackness in the history of slavery, and the struggle against racial injustice without reducing it to a narrative of sorrow and suffering.
Dilemmas of Healing
A new book on medicine's front-line workers takes readers deep into an intense, dangerous world still largely dominated by women. It is also a world where their professional concerns are left unaddressed.
Ferguson in Focus
On August 9, 2014, people had worried that Michael Brown would be forgotten. By September of that same year, it was clear no one would ever forget Brown, but what legacy his death would leave was in question.
Saigon Syndrome
Christian G. Appy argues, unsurprisingly, that the destructive and immoral actions of the United States in Vietnam punctured the myth of American exceptionalism. Yet that same exceptionalism survives largely intact today.
Sixth Sense
"Kaplan weaves Adams’ personal life and public career into an interrelated portrait of the man and his times. His singular appreciation of the importance of literature, especially Shakespeare, the theatre and poetry (including that composed by Adams himself) to his subject’s intellect, psyche and convictions about politics, religion, philosophy, love and nature, provides readers with a transparent and penetrating portrayal and assessment of Adams. This exceptional approach modifies conventional depictions of Adams solely as a man of “cold austere and forbidding manners, a gloomy misanthropist,” a description Adams once even applied to himself."
Can Minor Languages Make Revolution?
The struggle of two Uzbek journalists shows how the “rules” of online activism—that social media campaigns can inspire widespread support and even changes in policy—are in fact the exception.