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Education

Class & Inequality, Politics

The New Politics of Higher Education

Why the left’s turn from higher education has coincided with a newfound conservative appreciation for it.

Marshall Steinbaum

Race

Why Cornel West’s Tenure Fight Matters

I wrote letters for West’s hire and renewal at Harvard. The school’s administrators completely miss the point of tenure.

Robin D. G. Kelley

Politics, Science & Nature

Crises and Common Sense

The pandemic holds important political lessons for the climate crisis, but they must be taught.

Aaron Karp

Class & Inequality, Philosophy & Religion

A More Perfect Meritocracy

Two new books take aim at the moral failures of meritocracy. But we can advocate for a more just society without giving up on merit.

Agnes Callard

Global Justice, Politics

Bolsonaro’s War Against Reason

The Brazilian president’s offensive against universities threatens democracy and recalls the dark years of the country’s dictatorship.

Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Marcelo K. Silva

Class & Inequality, Gender & Sexuality

Budgeting Diversity

We know that faculty retirement policies shape racial and gender diversity on campus. What universities do now in the face of COVID-19 will have long-term consequences.

Daniel E. Ho, Oluchi Mbonu, Anne McDonough

Class & Inequality

Beyond the Neoliberal University

Astra Taylor talks with Rutgers faculty union president Todd Wolfson about organizing academic communities in the age of COVID-19.

Todd Wolfson, Astra Taylor

Class & Inequality

Who Pays for Cheap Language Instruction?

Media stories praising online language learning as an inexpensive way to take a “vacation” during COVID-19 have expressed astonishingly little curiosity about the conditions under which gig-economy language teachers labor.

Yuliya Komska, Alberto Bruzos Moro, Roberto Rey Agudo

Race

Black Bereavement, White Condolences

“This sudden attention to the ongoing grief of black life can also feel like a slap in the face. Didn’t you notice we were dying?”

Marina Magloire

Race

Decolonizing the University

In this interview, Lorgia García-Peña, who was denied tenure by Harvard in late 2019, discusses why ethnic studies has never been more urgent and the important role it can play in protest.

Lorgia García-Peña, Mordecai Lyon

Arts in Society

Teaching African American Literature During COVID-19

“In a season of unimaginable death, my students emerged as visionaries. I hope to live to see the world they create." 

Farah Jasmine Griffin

Class & Inequality

Deaths of Despair

Boston Review talks with Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton about COVID-19, the relationship between culture, financial hardship, and health, and why capitalism’s flaws are proving fatal for America’s working class. 

Joshua Cohen, Angus Deaton

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