Friday, September 28, 2018

Radio interview with Roddey Reid, Sun., Sept. 30, 9pm PDT - Fall elections , Kavanaugh, and Our Era of Political Intimidation



The Fall Elections, Kavanaugh, and Our Era of Political Intimidation

THIS SUNDAY

A Conversation with
Roddey Reid & talk show host Maureen Langan
Sunday, September 30, 2017

NEW TIME:
9 pm PDT
To stream live:

Print and e-book editions available online at Amazon & paperback copies 
are for sale in Berkeley at Moe's Books, in Oakland at East Bay Booksellers, and in Santa Cruz at Bookshop Santa Cruz

Roddey Reid is Professor Emeritus, University of California, San Diego, where he taught classes on the modern cultures and societies of the U.S., France, and Japan. His latest writing has been on trauma, daily life, and the culture of intimidation and bullying in the U.S. and Europe. He hosts a personal blog called “UnSafe Thoughts” on bullying and the fluidity of politics in dangerous times. He is a member of San Francisco chapter of Indivisble.org, the activist group that pressures politicians to preserve the legacies of the New Deal and the Great Society and that now has over 6.000 chapters nationwide.






Monday, September 3, 2018

Fall Election Special: Political Thuggery and Party Identities


Fall Election Special: Political Thuggery and Party Identities
(The Way We Live Now, Part Three)





Source: Michael Valdon; U.S. Congress, photo via Wikimedia Commons; State of Florida, photo via Wikimedia Commons; photo via Wikimedia Commons (BY SA 4.0)

 Author’s Note: This is the third installment in a series on the current public climate of fear and intimidation that has dominated national life in the United States since the kick-off of the last presidential campaign in 2015. Part One, “The Emotional Toll of Public Bullying and Political Intimidation,” focused on the experience of the sheer power and psychological effects of bullying in general and public bullying and political intimidation in particular. Part Two, “How Political Bullying and Intimidation Work: A Practical Guide,” looked at how public bullying works as a concrete method and set of political tools and provided readers with a map through this potent minefield and a way to anticipate future acts of aggression.

Aggression and Response

With Labor Day marking the official start of Congressional and local races, in Part Three I focus on the two major political parties to explore why over the years Republicans and their right-wing supporters have freely resorted to extremely aggressive political tactics—and just as important--why Democratic Party leaders and their liberal allies have often failed to take seriously such acts of political violence and skullduggery by their opponents and respond accordingly. Part of the answer, I argue, lies in their respective practices of loyalty and identity, social composition, and conceptions of governing.