Here is a 1984 view of the Louisiana electric chair, from the witness room. What surprises me is how close the witnesses sit. I realize it must be the same for the lethal injection — I had thought witnesses chairs would be elevated, as in a theatre, and further away — but I see this … More Death chamber
Someone said, “If this question was asked in my class, I would ask them to think about how patriarchy creates mechanisms of punishment and reward in order to keep itself in power. Patriarchy believes it gets to have 24/7 access to the bodies of social subordinates – most often women – but also men who … More Cecilia Valdés — yes it is the patriarchy
So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB’s proposed rules? She has said, “Payday lending is unfortunately a necessary component of how people get access to capital, [people] that are the working poor.” But maybe it has something more to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan industry has … More Bill Moyers
As a summer project, let’s compile a bibliography here. Are you joining me? Adaeseño Gregory, H.F., on adaeseño, 1996. Isleño MacCurdy, Raymond R. The Spanish Dialect in St. Bernard Parish. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1950. Axé.
I had to write a professional blurb about myself and I wrote: I teach primarily X but have also taught Y, and I publish primarily on A but have also worked on B. This was ostensibly because the blurb was written in connection with a proposal on Y and B, not X and A (which … More On self-presentation and gender
Here is a reasonable point of view on the value of that classic study of Vallejo: Izquierdo Ríos saw that it was important to know Vallejo’s contexts, in part so as not to substitute one’s own contexts and assumptions; and the indigenous element is real and important. He also started the vallejista tradition of making … More Francisco Izquierdo Ríos
The institution of “the other slavery” — the thinking behind it, the ways in which laws were passed and interpreted, how the practice of slavery itself took on many different guises — is alive today and in a world where the richest people exercise so much authority (in the form of political influence, economic power, … More La otra esclavitud
Stokely Carmichael, definitely worth a listen today. Axé.
I have so many words written, and so many intuitions, and so much research done, and so much left to do. But getting a certain piece of writing done is essential, because it will allow me to work out a key idea. I am writing this abstract so that I can then write the paper … More The abstract
A Herzog-related film (I love Herzog) I was not aware of is Happy People. Happy people are the hunters of the taiga when they are hunting. I also learned in this film of the Ket people, who I instantly knew had to be ancestors of the Native Americans. And it does appear that their language … More A year in the taiga
coldhearted scientist وداد 