For the European Relations blog, I wrote about anti-immigrant ideology and how international students became targets for deportation because of protests against Israel's invasion of Gaza. europeanrelations.com/gaza-and-the...
...and they do so knowing that liberals, centrists, leftists, democrats -- anyone who might be enraged by the nakedly immoral glorification of cruelty -- have either no power to stop it or are unwilling to do anything.
In fact, platforms like Twitter are now arguably dependent not on the amoral Instagram-type social influencer but on far-right posters who produce, distribute, or celebrate images of cruelty against immigrants, refugees, transpersons, the racially diverse...
The fact that even supposedly liberal or centrist power brokers have done little to defend the principles of DEI that emerged after Floyd's death or done little in response to Gaza has shown how abject displays of cruelty carry no consequence. Indeed, the images themselves are now a central product.
But for many, the video seemed to have a quite different effect, because some didn't want to feel shame for what happened. They wanted to celebrate the wonton disregard for the life of individuals they either wanted to oppress or who they didn't wish to see in the public sphere to begin with.
Perhaps its always been this way, but at least in the U.S. there seemed to be a turning point after George Floyd, when the clear, widely distributed video of racialized murder proved what so many already knew about policing and about the nature of enforcement and surveillance.
I think many of us grew up thinking that the very act of documenting atrocity was a key form of resistance and integral for provoking justice, even if it was delayed. But now, from Gaza to ICE raids, the will to document feels less potent when the perpetrators revel in the cruelty they display.
Moving and settling in Europe is enormously difficult, so this potential Aussie-EU mobility scheme is HUGE. Canada should look to find a similar deal.
www.news.com.au/finance/econ...
Worth noting that AOC ran on a campaign of abolishing ICE back in 2018, in response to which both Democrats and Republicans called her crazy. It wasn't farfetched then and now it's even more of a moral and political necessity.
It's unfortunate that political rhetoric today has become so diluted, because there's really no denying that ICE exhibits the hallmarks of a fascist organization: a federal police force with 'absolute immunity' and unchecked authority at the beck and call of unelected far-right political appointees.
Crucially, Melville incisively represents how American rhetoric on law and legality can be used in the service of empire and oppression, and how it manifests in South American specifically.
In my book, I wrote a chapter on how Melville pre-Civil War novella "Benito Cereno" (1855) critiques America's attachment to slavery through the nation's moral posturing and violent presence in South America.
www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mon...
Maduro's kidnapping by U.S. forces is unsurprising for those familiar with the long history of U.S. imperialism in South America--a history that predates CIA-backed coups and extends to the early 1800s when American leaders began viewing the world hemispherically, situating the south as "theirs."
I had a great experience working with NFFR from submission to publication. Make sure to follow and check out their past issues for the best in flash fiction.
My latest fiction is now out in Issue 38 of @nffr.bsky.social! Read (or listen 🔊) below. Check out of the full issue to see more great writing as well as interviews with the contributors.
newflashfiction.com/problems-wit... #fiction #writing #flashfiction
New flash fiction from me coming in September! 👀 Keep your eyes on the New Flash Fiction Review (@nffr.bsky.social).
My first article for the European Relations Association is now out! Confused over what Trump means for Canada and the EU? I breakdown how tariffs, annexation, and Mark Carney are bringing the two regions closer together -- sort of. europeanrelations.com/canada-wants... #TariffWar #tariff
I return to this poem about once a week. On the surface, Shelley's emphasis on inevitable decay suggests an element of nihilism, but I think instead the poem is an invitation to think about what's truly valuable. Material legacies are fleeting, so what then is left?
Finally found the time to punch out a short story, which is now free to read in Quibble Lit. It's a story born from my childhood growing up in Northern Ontario. Click below and support indie publishers!
www.quibblelit.com/among-us-by-... #fiction #writing #shortstory
Recently re-read Joan Didion's novel PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1970). Was struck at how contemporary it continues to feel; a deeply nihilistic story that manages to capture the way American culture seems to be constantly spinning towards self-destruction. An enduringly relevant novel. #books #reading
“The Empire Market”, 24” X 30”, Acrylic on canvas, 2025
Went to a fantastic lecture and chat today by Prof. Dr. Karsten Fitz (Universität Passau) who talked about Indigenous Futurisms and Ryan Singer, a Navajo painter who blends pop culture iconography like Star Wars with contemporary landscapes. Definitely an artist that deserves more attention.
Different historical situation, but interesting to compare with post-Great Recession and post-COVID politics. Working and middle class confront similar 'unpleasantness of historicity' that defines turn towards Trump. DNC failure to understand this underwrites their rejection of Sanders.
Reading Jameson's oft-cited review of DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975). Interesting point about class consciousness arising from various national traumas, explains middle class sympathy for Al Pacino's character. But the larger issue is the movement towards a different kind of politics and the consumer.
Fantastic breakdown by Ben Laude on Glenn Gould. Not just for classical music lovers, this is a meditation on how we engage with art in general.
youtu.be/ei18TjGnOjA?...
This overemphasizes the military and administrative capacity of European colonies in North America AND under emphasizes the degree to which Indigenous nations were running the show. Misleading notions of primitivism go hand in hand with this misconception.
Part of the issue with pop history is that it favours misleading settler colonial narratives of the "New World" in which Europeans secured legitimate sovereignty over the land through conquest - a "history is written by the winners" type of historiography.
Been chipping away at this over the last few months. Sprawling book (perhaps even too ambitious of a project) but very revealing of how the complexity of Indigenous presence has been obscured by simplistic histories of conquest.
I mean, Melville in *1855* was writing short stories that were critical of American imperial ambition in South America against the backdrop of the country's continuing insistence on racial slavery.
It's surprising/not surprising that 19th-century American imperialism, which treated its sphere of influence as hemispheric, is still relevant for understanding why mainstream narratives of South America treat it as America's "backyard."