Viewing Democracy

ADDED 03/23/2019

Macron’s plan to use troops in Paris protests sparks anger

FROM 03/22/2019 | Financial Times

BY Victor Mallet

French president Emmanuel Macron’s decision to use anti-terrorist troops to help police control any violent demonstrations in Paris this weekend has triggered fierce criticism from both sides of the political divide as well as security analysts. Mr Macron decided to deploy soldiers of the Sentinelle unit to relieve the police of some of their guard […]

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ADDED 03/09/2019

Russell Brand, Henry Giroux and Brad Evans on Fighting Fascism

FROM 03/03/2019 | Truthdig

BY Russell Brand

In this interview between actor, activist and comedian Russell Brand and Henry Giroux and Brad Evans, there is a wide-ranging and robust discussion about the meaning and the rise of fascism in the United States, the necessity of the left to address it, what it takes to move from a demonstration to a movement, whether […]

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ADDED 02/21/2019

Netanyahu Now Endorses Jewish Fascism. U.S. Jews, Cut Your Ties With Him Now

FROM 02/21/2019 | HAARETZ

BY Etan Nechin

Netanyahu lost his moral compass years ago, but his electoral deal with Israel’s most extreme racists is a moment of crisis, and a test, for American Jews. Don’t fail it. Benjamin Netanyahu faced media criticism this week for hosting the right-wing prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary who have been accused of being anti-immigrant […]

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ADDED 02/21/2019

Maria Ressa’s arrest spells more trouble for press freedom in increasingly illiberal Asia

FROM 02/18/2019 | CNN

BY Euan McKirdy

The arrest of Maria Ressa, a Time Person of the Year, award-winning journalist and frequent critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, has renewed fears for the future of press freedom in the southeast Asian nation and around the region. Ressa, co-founder of online news outlet Rappler and former CNN bureau chief, was arrested in connection with “cyber […]

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ADDED 02/21/2019

Heavy Metal Confronts Its Nazi Problem

FROM 02/19/2019 | The New Yorker

BY Colin Moynihan

The world is on fire,” Ben Hutcherson told an audience in Brooklyn, last month, before a set by his band, Glacial Tomb. He added, “At least we can all burn together.” Over the next thirty minutes, the band, which Hutcherson describes as playing “blackened, sludgy death metal,” roared through a half-dozen songs, replete with thundering drums […]

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ADDED 02/13/2019

Manchester: Yellow Vest protesters face off with anti fascism and anti racism protesters

FROM 02/10/2019 | Manchester Evening News

BY Helen Johnson

James Goddard(Image: M.E.N.)1 of 12 A Stand up to Racism supporter sticks two fingers up to a Yellow Vest protest in Piccadilly Gardens(Image: Joel Goodman)2 of 12 Anti-fascists block a Yellow Vest protest on Market Street(Image: Joel Goodman)3 of 12 A man flashes a TRUMP 2020 shirt at anti-fascists during a ‘Yellow Vest’ protest in Manchester City Centre(Image: Joel Goodman)4 of 12 A […]

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ADDED 02/09/2019

Not one more drop of blood spilled

FROM 02/02/2019 | BrasilWire

BY Brian Meier

Indigenous people and their supporters protest in 51 cities around the World against the neo-fascist Bolsonaro administration’s dismantling of reservations, cultural and land rights and his supporters’ genocidal threats. January 31 was marked by protests for Brazilian Indigenous rights in cities across Brazil as people took to the streets to protest a new wave of […]

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ADDED 02/09/2019

Autocracies that look like democracies are a threat across the globe

FROM 02/05/2019 | The Conversation

BY Richard Carney

Russia’s successful interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election may inspire other countries to do the same. These other countries don’t look threatening. They look like democracies. But they’re not. They’re a special kind of autocratic regime that masquerades as a democracy. And what looks like benevolent conduct by these countries can quickly change into aggressive, […]

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ADDED 02/09/2019

Selfishness Is Killing Liberalism

FROM 02/19/2018 | The Atlantic

BY JAMES TRAUB

The death of liberalism constitutes the publishing world’s biggest mass funeral since the death of God half a century ago. Some authors, like conservative philosopher Patrick Deneen, of Why Liberalism Failed, have come to bury yesterday’s dogma. Others, like Edward Luce (The Retreat of Western Liberalism), Mark Lilla (The Once and Future Liberal), and Steven Levitsky […]

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ADDED 02/09/2019

Meet Fellow Worker Gritty, the Anti-Fascist Mascot

FROM 02/08/2019 | Truthout

BY Drew Hallowell

By now you have probably heard about Gritty, the mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team who has become nothing less than a phenomenon since debuting last September. Gritty has quickly become an NHL all-star and symbol of everything Philly, but there is much more to the orange, wide-eyed monster. Look no further than a resolution introduced by members […]

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ADDED 02/09/2019

Lessons from Tanzania’s Authoritarian Turn

FROM 02/07/2019 | Council on Foreign Relations

BY Michelle D. Gavin

The alarming reports out of Tanzania have become commonplace. Current Tanzanian President John Magufuli, who swept into office on a popular anti-corruption platform, has been presiding over a shocking decline in political and civil rights in the country. Civil society leaders, opposition politicians, journalists, and businesspeople feel unsafe on their own soil—and with good reason. […]

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ADDED 02/04/2019

India’s Digital Path: Leaning Democratic or Authoritarian?

FROM 02/04/2019 | Just Security

BY Justin Sherman

Digital authoritarianism, defined broadly as wielding technology to enhance or enable authoritarian governance, is spreading around the world. While the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index found that, on a global level, “democracy stopped declining in 2018” for the first time in three years, the researchers cautioned that it may be merely a “pause.” In 2019, the […]

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