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Social Movement Unionism Or Social Justice Unionism? Disentangling Theoretical Confusion Within The Global Labor Movement, Kim Scipes

Class, Race and Corporate Power

After the election of John Sweeney as President of the AFL-CIO in October 1995, activists and supportive intellectuals in the United States began thinking about how to revitalize the almost moribund American labor movement. A key part of this literature has revolved around the concept of “social movement unionism.” This term touched a nerve, and has garnered widespread usage in North America over the past two decades.

However, most researchers using this term have no idea that it was initially developed to understand the new unionism developed by members of specific labor movements in Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa, …

Revolutionaries In Space? A Counter-Review Of Interstellar, Bryant William Sculos

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Should the radical Left interpret the Nolans' Interstellar as a tribute to (neo)liberal expansionism or should we view it as a cautionary tale about a future that is just around the corner, which won't be solved by worm holes or time travel? This review takes the latter position against the recent Jacobin review, which argues the former. Here, I show that Interstellar can be productively reinterpreted as a film about a series of things that will NOT save us from our-late-capitalist-selves.

The Argentine Dilemma: “Vulture Funds” And The Risks Posed To Developing Economies, Mine Doyran

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Post-crisis Argentina is a case study of crisis management through debt restructuring. This article examines how Argentina negotiated the external debt in the wake of the sovereign default in December 2001 and now confronts challenges posed by holdout creditors—the so called “vulture funds”. It argues that debt restructuring has put a straitjacket on the national economy, making it virtually impossible for healthy growth short of a break with the international economic order. While Argentina has successfully restructured a $95 billion debt with an unprecedented “hair cut” (around 70% reduction in “net value of debt”), a sustainable growth appears out of …

Czechs Look Back On 1989, A Revolution Betrayed: A Reflection On The Mythology Of The Velvet Revolution, Lukáš Rychetský, Jaroslav Fiala

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Twenty-five years ago today the Velvet Revolution kicked off in what was then Czechoslovakia to bring an end to the one-party government of the Communist Party. This exclusive translation of a feature from the Czech journal A2 Cultural Bi-Weekly explains that the events of 1989 were about more than just Václav Havel, a playwright and leader in the revolution who was elected president in 1990. A generation of unfulfilled promises later, Czechs are struggling to revive the spirit of not only democracy and humanism, but also socialism.

This article originally appeared in Ricochet, November 17, 2014.

Beauty Pageants, Fiu, And "Worlds Ahead": An Open Letter To Fiu President Mark Rosenberg, Susanne Zwingel

Class, Race and Corporate Power

In response to FIU's decision to rent space to Donald Trump's Miss Universe Beauty pageant, it is argued that FIU has a responsibility toward its female and male students to work for a less sexist world. As the leadership of the university does not seem to be aware of the dangers of exaggerated beauty standards and female objectification, the letter draws on feminist insights to add non-sexist substance to FIU's vision of being "worlds ahead".

Sex Work And Class, Maria Gabryszewska

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Prostitution scandals stigmatize workers for their entire lives, but the politician involved is marred for only one news cycle. “White knight” feminists shame women for sexually catering to the patriarchy but talk from a place of economic privilege. Religious organizations engage in misguided attempts to “save” women who use the industry as a job. Exploitive policies aimed at curtailing sex work hurt the individuals who wish to practice safe sex for their own protection. In the guise of aiding sex workers, or saving them from themselves, those that would advocate for more restrictive policies ignore the ramifications of what these …

Mining In Peru: Indigenous And Peasant Communities Vs. The State And Mining Capital, Jan Lust

Class, Race and Corporate Power

The Peruvian economy depends for its growth on the export of natural resources and investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors. Peruvian governments and mining corporations have confronted anti-mining protests in different ways. While the current government has introduced policies of social inclusion to soften the negative effects of the operations of mining capital and policies of dialogue to engage social actors with the essence of governmental policies, mining companies use corporate social responsibility programs as a cover for the devastating effects of their operations on the environment and the livelihoods and habitats of the indigenous and peasant communities. Curiously, …

Ruling The Void, Ronald W. Cox

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Over the past few decades, political parties in the Western world have moved to the center-right of the political spectrum. In the process, there is a wider gulf between the policies favored by the party elite and their voting constituents, especially on the left.

Global Capitalism, Immigrant Labor, And The Struggle For Justice, William I. Robinson, Xuan Santos

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Around the world borders are militarized, states are stepping up repressive anti-immigrant controls, and native publics are turning immigrants into scapegoats for the spiraling crisis of global capitalism. The massive displacement and primitive accumulation unleashed by free trade agreements and neo-liberal policies, as well as state and “private” violence has resulted in a virtually inexhaustible immigrant labor reserve for the global economy. State controls over immigration and immigrant labor have several functions for the system: 1) state repression and criminalization of undocumented immigration make immigrants vulnerable and deportable and therefore subject to conditions of super-exploitation, super-control and hyper-surveillance; 2) anti-immigrant …

Discordant Place-Based Literacies In The Hilton Head, South Carolina Runway Extension Debate, Emily Cooney

Community Literacy Journal

In making a case for ecocomposition, Sidney Dobrin has claimed that writing, place, and environment cannot be separated. As Donehower, Hogg, and Schell and Deborah Brandt might argue, literacy cannot be separated from place either. But it might sometimes be separated from environment as an ecosystem that has value distinct from, and without the influence of, humans. In the Hilton Head, South Carolina airport runway extension debate, how stakeholders read, write, and speak of the land next to the airport is inherently connected to how they interact with that place and with each other. But they do not read and …

Civic Disobedience: Anti-Sb 1070 Graffiti, Marginalized Voices, And Citizenship In A Politically Privatized Public Sphere, Veronica Oliver

Community Literacy Journal

With neither national nor local-level discussions of Senate Bill 1070 adequately addressing bottom line issues such as marginalization, access, and civic engagement, an exploration of marginalized rhetorical acts can provide an informative lens for understanding challenges among marginalized people, their rhetorical tools, and their relations to public spheres. Through an exploration of anti-Senate Bill 1070 graffiti, this article examines how the practice of graffiti points to difference manifesting and playing out in the wider public sphere. It calls for scholars and activists to recognize graffiti as a rhetorical tool worthy of study and cross-cultural discourse.

The Unheard Voices: Community Organizations And Service Learning, David Dadurka

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

Circulating Communities: The Tactics And Strategies Of Community Publishing, Beth Savoy

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

From The Book Review Editor’S Desk, Jessica Shumake, Anthony D. Boynton Ii, Saul Hernandez

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

Keyword Essay: "Critical Service Learning", William Carney

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

Zines In Third Space: Radical Cooperation And Borderlands Rhetoric, Jenna Vinson

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

Community Engagement In A Graduate-Level Community Literacy Course, Betsy Bowen, Kirsti Arko, Joel Scott Beatty, Cindy Delaney, Isidore Kafui Dorpenyo, Laura Koeller, Elsa Roberts, John Velat

Community Literacy Journal

A case study of a graduate-level community literacy seminar that involved a tutoring project with adult digital literacy learners, this essay illustrates the value of community outreach and service-learning for graduate students in writing studies. Presenting multiple perspectives through critical reflection, student authors describe how their experiences contextualized, enhanced, and complicated their theoretical knowledge of public rhetoric and community literacy. Inspired by her students’ reflections, the faculty co-author issues a call to graduate programs in writing, rhetoric, literacy studies, and technical communication to develop a conscious commitment to graduate students’ civic engagement by supporting opportunities to learn, teach, and research …

The Word And The World: The Cultural Politics Of Literacy In Brazil, Katie Silvester, Anne-Marie Hall

Community Literacy Journal

No abstract provided.

Poetic Signs Of Third Place: A Case Study Of Studentdriven Imitation In A Shelter For Young Homeless People In Copenhagen, Christina Matthiesen

Community Literacy Journal

During a series of writing workshops at a shelter for young homeless people in Copenhagen, I examined to what extent the literary practice of student-driven imitation with its emphasis on self-governance and a dialogical approach can engage marginalized learners in reading and writing. I found that studentdriven imitation had the potential to engage different kinds of writers and that they adopted the practice with ease and confidence. In addition, I experienced that the residents’ preferred genre was poetry and that they generally sought a neutral space with low attention to social status, characterized by dialogue and a homely feel. This …

Toward An Eco-Egalitarian University, William Connolly

Class, Race and Corporate Power

This article argues for a political transformation and reorganization of the university so that it is capable of challenging the "hierarchy of power in a neoliberal society." Faculty democracy, administrative accountability to faculty, and the education of students to become critical, thinking citizens would be a major part of this reorganization.

This article first appeared in The Contemporary Condition:

http://contemporarycondition.blogspot.com/2014/07/toward-eco-egalitarian-university.html

Israel, You Rascals, Mark Steel

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Mark Steel started doing stand-up in 1982 in England, around the circuit of bizarre gigs, going on after jugglers and escapologists and people that banged nails into their ear. Then came the Comedy Store and Jongleurs and getting bottled off at The Tunnel, and then a regular slot on Radio 4′s Loose Ends, where he met Joseph Heller, Christopher Lee and Gary Glitter.

He did 4 series of ‘The Mark Steel Solution’, one for Radio 5 and the others on Radio 4, and a radio series about cricket, which provoked a whole page of fury in the Daily Express. …

Polemos And Paideia: On The Weaponization Of The School In Late Capitalism, Sean Noah Walsh

Class, Race and Corporate Power

A popular refrain in the politics of American education, often buttressed by a steady stream of studies, contends that ‘we are falling behind’ students from other countries. Sometimes this decline is specified in terms of discipline, but the general premise is that American students lag behind their foreign counterparts, with special dread attached to the notion of falling behind adversaries such as China. The failure to rectify our educational inadequacies apparently portends a genuine crisis, the loss of global dominance. The articulation of such fears is particularly instructive in discerning the political role of education in late capitalism, its conceptualization …

Building Global Labor Solidarity Today: Learning From The Kmu Of The Philippines, Kim Scipes

Class, Race and Corporate Power

New labor movements are currently emerging across the Global South. This is happening in countries as disparate as China, Egypt, and Iran. New developments are taking place within labor movements in places such as Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan and Venezuela. Activists and leaders in these labor movements are seeking information from workers and unions around the world.

However, many labor activists today know little or nothing about the last period of intense efforts to build international labor solidarity, the years 1978-2007. One of the key labor movements of this period, and which continues today, is the KMU Labor Center …

Against Libertarianism, Ronald W. Cox

Class, Race and Corporate Power

This essay argues that libertarianism operates as a corporate ideology in the neoliberal age.

An Honest Presidential Address On The Iraq Situation, Ronald W. Cox

Class, Race and Corporate Power

This essay is a mock Presidential address designed to highlight the long-term consequences of the US occupation of Iraq.

The Military-Industrial Complex And Us Military Spending After 9/11, Ronald W. Cox

Class, Race and Corporate Power

This article examines the economic, political and institutional power of the military-industrial complex (MIC) by examining its influence on military spending before and after the events of 9/11. The reasons for the continuity of MIC influence in US foreign policy is explored. This includes the role of military contractors in financing policy planning organizations, the relationship between military contractors and the Defense Department, and the centralization of executive branch authority in foreign policy decision-making, especially during critical junctures or foreign policy crises.

Betting Against The Glass Ceiling: Supervisor Gender & Employee Job Satisfaction In The Casino-Entertainment Industry, Nicholas J. Thomas, Lisa Y. Thomas, Eric A. Brown, Jaewook Kim

Hospitality Review

This exploratory study expands on hospitality management literature, specifically on the influence of a supervisor’s gender in regards to employee job satisfaction within the casino-entertainment sector. Employee job satisfaction was analyzed using company, department, and supervisor variables based on 961 surveys. The study’s results suggest that employees with male supervisors have a higher employee satisfaction level than employees with supervisors that are female. Hospitality organizations are therefore encouraged to create leadership programs to ensure women are a part of corporate leadership’s success formula for the future.

“Namastey London”: Bollywood Movies And Their Impact On How Indians Perceive European Destinations, Bharath M. Josiam Ph.D., Daniel Spears Ph.D., Kirti Dutta Ph.D., Sanjukta A. Pookulangara Ph.D., Tammy L. Kinley Ph.D.

Hospitality Review

The aim of this study is to analyze the perception of European destinations through the eyes of Indian Bollywood film viewers to determine how perception is influenced by what is viewed in films. Researchers surveyed Indian consumers and collected 670 usable surveys. European destinations were divided into top five and bottom five destinations for Indian tourists, and data was then compared to world tourism statistics. Results indicate differences in destination preference among Bollywood viewers and worldwide tourist trends. Findings indicate that prominently featuring a landscape within Bollywood films can significantly impact Indians’ perception on the destinations’ image. European countries frequently …

The Influence Of Servicescape And Local Food Attributes On Pleasure And Revisit Intention In An Upscale-Casual Dining Restaurant, Robin B. Dipietro, Jeffrey Campbell

Hospitality Review

The current study looks at the relationship between servicescape, emotional product involvement, perceived quality of local foods, the positive emotion of pleasure, and revisit intention in an upscale buffet style restaurant on a university campus in the Southeastern U.S. Test results show positive relationships between all of the constructs in the proposed conceptual model. The study also gives practitioners and academics insights into practices that can help to market the use of local foods through the restaurant environment in order to engage emotionally involved customers. This marketing can illicit pleasurable feelings and increase perceived product quality of local foods with …

Reflections Of Academics On The Ethics Of University Military Research, Mozhgan Savabieasfahani

Class, Race and Corporate Power

The article examines the ways that university military research violates the tenets of academic freedom and communication. Interviews with academics are used to raise concerns about the extent to which military research conflicts with the academic mission. The author includes an examination of specific cases where professors and students have challenged the militarization of research on university campuses.