Research

Progressive and Conservative Campus Activism

Excerpt from Deliberate Differences: Progressive and Conservative Campus Activism in the United States, a Political Research Associates report by Pam Chamberlain (2005). Our findings are summarized as follows: 1. Energetic College Students…

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Mussolini on the Corporate State

A Google(tm) search on January 12, 2005 turned up some 5,000 hits on the following quote: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini It is generally…

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Crime and Political Ideology

A sign on cardboard says "Fuck 12, Defund CPD, Abolish ICE, Free them All, Defund the Carceral System, Free them all"

Introduction “An eye for an eye” captures the conservative model of punishment in contemporary western societies. That is, when a wrong is done to an innocent person, the wrongdoer must be severely punished in order to “even the books” and stand as…

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Calvinism, Capitalism, Conversion, and Incarceration

Why are increased sentences and the severe punishment of those convicted of crimes so popular and prevalent in U.S. culture? Since the late 1970s our society has accepted increasingly rigid and vengeful ways of punishing those convicted of crimes.…

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"Free Traders" On the Run

After years of growing citizen opposition to corporate globalization, the free traders are on the run. In September of 2003, a World Trade Organization (WTO) summit in Cancún, Mexico came to a screeching halt after the world’s poor countries…

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Deliberate Differences

Progressive and Conservative Campus Activism

U.S. colleges and universities have a long tradition of political activism. They are centers of intellectual activity; concentrations of young people live in close proximity; and students can experience new ideas and constructs about the world at…

The Roots of Corporate Globalization in IMF/World Bank "Structural Adjustment" Policies

This year marks the 60^th anniversary of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Although they have always been located in Washington, DC, people in the United States very often do not know much about what they do.…

Article

“If You Love Children, Say So”

The African American Anti-Abortion Movement

Introduction For those on either side of the abortion debate there are great stakes involved with the outcomes of the upcoming 2004 elections. There could be the possibility of three open vacancies on the Supreme Court within the next few years,…

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Drifting Right and Going Wrong

An Overview of the U.S. Political Right

Our country is in the midst of the longest period of right-wing reaction against movements seeking equality, social justice, and economic fairness since the period of Reconstruction in the south. We picture hooded Ku Klux Klan nightriders carrying…

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Homeland Security

Low-Intensity Conflict Targets Non-Citizens

Presdient George Bush signing something, with men standing around him.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the so-called war on terror has provided the U.S. government with a rationale for dramatically increasing state repression. This repression, linked with an upsurge of nationalism and nativist scapegoating,…

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Faith Matters: George Bush and Providence

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Rac[e]ing Abroad

Exploring Racism in/and U.S. Foreign Policy

A poster: WAR. Good for Few (a hand holding a glass of wine) Bad for most (a hand with blood behind it with bullets around)

Introduction¹ “Save U.S. Lives! Drop U.S. Bombs!” read the banner a woman held at a prowar rally outside the Huskies…

Article

Scared Chaste, Scared Straight

Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Education in U.S. Schools

A person holding a sign that reads "I choose to have sex responsibly"

The welfare reform law of 1996, premised on the unproven claim that poor women’s failure to marry is the cause of high rates of family poverty in the United States, promoted an abstinence-only-until-marriage policy that teaches that sex outside the…

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The Christian Right’s “Defense of Marriage:” Democratic Rhetoric, Antidemocratic Politics

Introduction¹

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Corporate Desires vs. Anti-immigrant Fervor: The Bush Administration's Dilemma

George W. Bush accomplished a near-miracle when he united the various factions of the Republican Party behind his candidacy in the 2000 presidential election. To do so, he convinced them to put aside their differences in order to recapture the White…

Article

The Pioneer Institute

Privatizing the Common Wealth

Foreword By Patricia Jehlen State Representative - Somerville, MA Ideas are powerful. The relentless, well-funded, and well-connected efforts of the Pioneer Institute to “change the direction of the wind” politically in Massachusetts are well…

Report

The Pioneer Institute: Privatizing the Common Wealth

The Pioneer Institute was founded in 1988 to change the direction of public policy in Massachusetts by influencing opinion-shapers, policy-makers, and the public. Modeled on the conservative Manhattan Institute and Britain’s Institute of Economic…

Tilting at Faith-Based Windmills

Over a Year in the Life of President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative

It may seem like several lifetimes ago, but it was only on January 29, 2001, when President Bush unveiled a cornerstone of his domestic policy agenda—“charitable choice.” Amidst great fanfare and surrounded by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy,…

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Immigrants and the Environment

Immigrants and the Environment The anti-immigrant Right has appealed to those who value the environment, blaming immigrants for problems of pollution, overcrowding, energy shortages and the very quality of life in the United States. Sometimes…

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Encountering and Countering Political Repression

When you’re trying to wash the tear gas out of your eyes with a bottle of spring water, it’s the wrong time to learn about political repression. So reading this section now has a practical value. Surveillance, infiltration, harassment, media…

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