The Latest
The Protagonist in Someone Else’s Memoir
Every city I’ve lived in has been filled with racism, whether out in the open or hidden in an invisible dialogue of economics and housing. Birmingham taught me to never question what it meant to be a Black American.
What Will It Take to End Violence Against Native Women?
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is an important step, but activist Mary Kathryn Nagle argues that only full restoration of Indigenous sovereignty will stop the epidemic.
The Critic of Gay Desire
Why groundbreaking queer studies scholar Leo Bersani rejected the word “queer.”
What Makes Laws Unjust
King could not accomplish what philosophers and theologians also failed to—distinguishing moral from immoral law in a polarized society.
The Elite Capture of Asian American Politics
By casting doubt on multiracial working-class solidarity, Jay Caspian Kang’s critique of professional identity politics fails on its own terms.
Do They Know We’re Here?
On war and belonging, thirty years after the siege of Sarajevo began.
Father Knows Best
“Don’t Say Gay” laws can be traced to the Reagan-era crusade to put “parents’ rights” before the interests of children.
Gramsci’s Gift
For the Italian Communist, there was no road map for social transformation beyond hands-on, bottom-up activism.
Repair—A Virtual Celebration of Literature
Boston Review hosted a virtual reading to celebrate the release of our annual arts anthology.
Nijla Mu’min: three poems
“Just let me just lay here and do nothing
cause boss bitches get lonely too”
The “Benevolent Terror” of the Child Welfare System
The system’s roots aren’t in rescuing children but in the policing of Black, Indigenous, and poor families.
The Personal Is Philosophical
On the first English translation of Wittgenstein’s early private notebooks.
Ingeborg Bachmann’s “Dream of Language”
On the first English translation of the Austrian poet’s critical writings, composed in the shadow of fascism.
Imagining Ukraine
Poland and Russia both think of Ukraine as a seat of authentic Slavic culture. Józef Czapski’s war memoir highlights how this has often clashed with Ukraine’s independence.
How the Other Half Dies
Until COVID-19, tuberculosis killed more people each year than any other infectious disease. Its rising toll is increasingly fueled by mass incarceration.
Who Gets to Be American?
During the Cold War, El Paso public schools taught the children of former Nazis how to be white Americans.
NATO and the Road Not Taken
Condemning Putin’s war must go hand in hand with imagining a more just security order.
On Antitrust, Don’t Take Big Tech’s Word for It
Corporate restructurings are not a cure-all, but they would tilt the balance of power toward ordinary Americans.
Dispatch from Kharkiv National University
On the importance of women’s studies after the USSR collapsed, and what it helps us understand about Putin’s war on Ukraine.
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