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Fall 2011 Political Thought, links to date

Page history last edited by ike sharpless 12 years, 3 months ago

For the first day of class

Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs41JrnGaxc&feature=related

For Tues. Sept. 6

Flash video on Alan Watts' idea of 'prickles and goo': http://www.neticons.net/prickles/
And on the lighter side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOTKA0aGI0
Stephen Fry on the purpose of philosophy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpI7-HYaX-k&feature=player_embedded
Jonathan Wolff on ethics and public life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0q8RV8tgFo&feature=youtube_gdata
Carl Sagan on the presocratics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEnie6eqKQw&feature=player_embedded#at=11

On Plato

Plato's Allegory of the Cave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTWwY8Ok5I0
Pop philosophy: the Matrix and the Cave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRNMZEDOBrM&feature=related
Socrates on Self-Confidence (a good 3-part documentary): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2rsiER-OnU
Documentary on Plato's Republic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0qZfsFo2RI

On the political spectrum

On Aristotle

An interesting and unconventional piece on Aristotle by British socialist Mark Steel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slMpJvt6b0I (and section 3, on politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcqbXWTzIc0&feature=related)
An interview with Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNIPAwZVqb4

Nussbaum on her capabilities approach in the recent film, Examined Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbcGbflpFzI&feature=related

"What Did Aristotle Get Wrong?": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI47KuwaxTQ
On what it means to be a good citizen: http://peterlevine.ws/?p=6614
A list of common fallacies in reasoning: http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/rgass/fallacy3211.htm

And a related list here: http://www.surrenderworks.com/library/imports/distortedthinking.html

On Machiavelli

Salman Rushdie 'saving' Machiavelli from Machiavellianism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_7jRYLTzcE
Discovery channel documentary on Machiavelli (5 mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s25kX24j250
Longer documentary on Machiavelli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IGBKu6qM7Y&feature=related
Optional reading for Thursday: Isaiah Berlin on Machiavelli in the New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/10391
"Machiavelli is Everywhere": http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/21/machiavelli-is-every.html
One of many, many examples of 'using' Machiavelli as described by Rushdie above: http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/going-machiavelli-islamabad-4775
"What is Politics?": http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog/2010/12/21/what-is-politics/

On Hobbes - focus on law

For some historical context - Simon Schama's excellent "History of Britain" (this is long!...): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RrLDBtvpcw

The most relevant episode for our purposes, "Revolutions" (episode 9 of 15): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvV-WUOnfxY

And you can find more on British politics here, if you're interested: http://ikesharpless.pbworks.com/w/page/29521298/Course%20Links%20%28as%20shown%20in%20class%29

Michelle Bachmann on vaccination - what do you think this has to do with social contract theory?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPZn9mRQlq4&feature=player_embedded

And a follow-up here: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/09/bachmann-struggles-comeback-her-hpv-controversy/42591/
Ditto re. the new film Contagion (Why is this relevant here?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g

And more context here: http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/12/how_well_does_contagion_get_the_global_governance_of_catastrophe

Re. chapter XXVI on the law - a debate between Steven Breyer v. Antonin Scalia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXeUfVhDVUM
On the layers of the social contract

And a more radical idea happening this month at Harvard - a Conference on a Constitutional Convention: http://conconcon.org/

(Focus on Law - because we're skipping the Federalist Papers) Understanding Federalism

Defining and evaluating federal as against unitary systems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s5pbZMkmdM

an explanatory image: http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/tb/American_politics/lect_seven_I.jpg
Another image, on federalism in the US: http://www.quia.com/pages/ogtgovernment.html
A map of the world's federal states: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_federal_states.svg

Clip of 'Hamilton v Jefferson' from the excellent HBO miniseries, "John Adams": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=notJuFGXQ9w&feature=related
A politician's take (Fred Thompson): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izy79xQL4sw
In the mediasphere: Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough on federalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49sKXEc-ac4
Judge Andrew Napolitano on the Glenn Beck show (an example of the role of federalism in today's divisive political climate): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwb2Q2tNFj4

On property and related issues

FRONTLINE piece on agricultural land ownership in Brazil: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/12/brazil_cutting.html
FRONTLINE piece on Brazilian mining and indigenous rights: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/brazil501/
Jagdish Bhagwati on the free market and morality (from the 'big think' project): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba6geDOPqSU

Bhagwati on the positive effects of trade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72H9Cnsn_lI&feature=related

Hernando de Soto on property rights and the rule of law: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fzpx75RezI

More here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW5FKNpgg6I&feature=related

Bhopal, the Yes Men, and Dow Chemical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlUQ2sUti8o
An animation about John Perkins' Economic Hitmen (highly critical of corporate globalization): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Fzm1hEiDQ

A similarly biased comic, on the issue of corporate personhood - is this fair?: http://www.bigfatwhale.com/archives/bfw_446.htm

A short film made entirely from trademarked logos (re. Kant's essay on enlightenment, sort of): http://www.movieweb.com/movie/logorama/short-film

On Inequality

Perceived versus actual wealth distribution in the US: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/09/chart-of-the-day-11.html
Two very different views on taxation, inequality, and fairness

One by Elizabeth Warren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOyDR2b71ag&feature=player_embedded#!
The other by Bill O'Reilly: http://video.foxnews.com/v/1168810312001/raising-revenue-by-punishing-achievement/

"What is the Value of a Human Life" (re. differential payouts for 9/11 victims): http://thisibelieve.org/essay/45426/
Interviews with Jeffrey Sachs

with GOOD magazine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlqryI7SH8s
with Al-Jazeera's Riz Khan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZA2lWM0_q8

And a counter-perspective: criticizing the aid paradigm with William Easterly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoV-wtxyQKY&feature=channel
On a much-discussed recent book, The Spirit Level: http://www.cognitionandculture.net/Nicolas-Blog/better-live-in-sweden-or-anywhere-else-than-in-the-us-why-more-equal-societies-almost-always-do-b.html

and more here: http://www.good.is/post/inequality-makes-me-sick-literally/
and here: http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/
And a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SqiKULsBzHU#at=49
and here, from Nick Kristof: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/opinion/02kristof.html?_r=2&hp

Francis Fukuyama on the question, "Is America a plutocracy?" http://www.the-american-interest.com/article-bd.cfm?piece=906
On the Human Development Index: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/19/database-of-human-development-information/
On American income inequality: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2010/09/why-has-america-s-income-inequality-skyrocketed/23119/

And more here, with graphs, from James Fallows: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/more-on-the-wealthy-poor-and-a-fair-society/63582/
And here, on global income inequality: http://www.truth-out.org/nine-pictures-of-the-extreme-incomewealth-gap67743

And the quintessential example here: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/controversies/india-the-palace-in-the-slums/preview

On Conservatism

Question: should there be affirmative action for conservative academics: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Should-There-Be-Affirmative-Action-for-Conservative-Academics-6908
A detailed take by a conservative blogger here: http://www.patheos.com/community/theanchoress/2011/02/25/perpetual-adolescents-in-the-widening-gyre/
The "southern avenger" - "why I am a conservative": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1posVP4NjA
On the usefulness of 'adherence to principle': http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2010/12/31/shall-we-be-ruled-by-principle-or-emotional-narratives/
A good contrasting of classical conservatives v. progressives: http://frontpagemag.com/2010/03/05/progressives-and-conservatives-a-briefing/
On right-leaning talk radio: http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog/2011/01/10/happy-meal-conservatism/
A conservative on what it means to be conservative: http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2011/02/04/is-conservatism-a-meaningful-term/

On Free Speech (and Utilitarianism)

Three-part interview with Peter Singer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bi81JcddWc
More recently, on Islam and cartoons - from On Point with Tom Ashbrook: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2011/09/29/habibi
On freedom of expression and religion (feat. Christopher Hitchens): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7aS7m3odqI

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBlg2e5EAZk

A legal perspective on free speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHrtlO5Hg88
"America versus free speech" on Riz Khan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh3N4amIXvw&feature=channel

more on the question of comparative media coverage: http://i.imgur.com/NVih0.jpg
As an example...: http://vimeo.com/16779150

On free speech and hate speech (can be offensive, but hey, we're talking about free speech): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aFEBWjJYs0

More recently: on the 8-1 Supreme Court Westboro Baptist Church ruling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLDcdDRH6Qk&feature=fvwrel
On an Orange County anti-Muslim rally: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/03/04/video-of-anti-muslim-protest-in-orange-county/

Ron Paul on rights: http://www.newser.com/story/113404/ron-paul-education-isnt-a-right-and-neither-is-medical-care.html

On Animals (focus on ethics)

Lecture by neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky, "Are Humans Just Another Primate?": http://fora.tv/2011/02/15/Robert_Sapolsky_Are_Humans_Just_Another_Primate
TED video: Jane Goodall on what separates us from the apes: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_goodall_on_what_separates_us_from_the_apes.html
Video from the Onion News Network: http://www.theonion.com/video/study-multiple-stab-wounds-may-be-harmful-to-monke,14150/
In a Chinese zoo, "five Euros will buy you the chance to feed one animal to another": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LeuQcsj-2w
Excellent three-part interview with utilitarian Peter Singer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bi81JcddWc
Martha Nussbaum in the film Examined Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbcGbflpFzI
One (of many) example of anthropocentrism: http://xkcd.com/731/
Deontologist Gary Francione's blog: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

An interview with Francione, on abolitionism and moral schizophrenia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO8NXatlQhc

See here for a tie-in to Examined Life's focus on disability: http://vegansaurus.com/post/11070117414
And see here for a much more extensive compilation of links from my previous Animal Rights & Animal Welfare classes

Re. Class Discussion

More on the people of Occupy Wall Street (there's lots more on this, both in NYC, Boston, and elsewhere...): http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/10/budding-stars-occupy-wall-street/43291/

And the issue of frame-shifting I mentioned in class: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/10/04/new-york-times-shifts-its-framing-of-the-arrests-at-occupy-wall-street/
And a short film here: http://vimeo.com/30081785
And a comic (?) reframing here: http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/10/occupy-sesame-street-grover-arrested-count-pepper-sprayed.html

Socialism

Chomsky on Socialism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Tq4VE8eHQ
Mark Steel's irreverant take on Karl marx: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByOKZmQ72m4

More from Steel on Marx: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1140827163899724067#

Interesting clip on the American roots of Canadian socialism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VbHAUf6Lgw
"Heaven on Earth: the Rise and Fall of Socialism": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LJEI1egwkw&feature=related

Here is the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/heavenonearth/

Key socialist thinkers: http://www.pbs.org/heavenonearth/leaders_thinkers.html
Timeline of socialism: http://www.pbs.org/heavenonearth/timeline.html

Michael Lebowitz on "The Socialist Alternative": http://vimeo.com/14411920
Updating the 'wage slave' for the credit economy: http://www.dula.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/begger.jpg

And more recently: http://boingboing.net/2011/10/11/the-wage-slaves-glossary-exclusive-preview.html

Koyaanisqatsi trailer (relevant to modern alienation): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirH8PADDgQ
The Great Firewall of China: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWsXhNJFj78&feature=channel
"A Critique of Capitalism", by G. A. Cohen: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/02/08/a-critique-of-capitalism-by-g-a-cohen/
Article from Adbusters, a magazine highly critical of capitalism: http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/88/socialism-versus-capitalism.html

Another prominent voice, Socialist Worker: http://socialistworker.org/

The pyramid of capitalism: http://www.whale.to/b/images/capitalism.gif
This is an example of alienation from the means of production: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/17-percent-brits-pork-wings-cut-meat.php
Another piece on Marx's Opiate of the masses reference to religion: http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2011/03/opiate-of-masses-predicting-religions.html
And a recent RSA debate on the radical implications of viewing human nature in artificial terms (a debate on transhumanism and 'humanity 2.0' with speculative fiction author China Mieville and others): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3t_JYKnGIA&feature=youtube_gdata

In the news

A Burkean view on the Arab Spring: volokh.com/2011/10/11/egypt-sliding-into-military-dictatorship
An oversimplified but interesting take on the OWS/Tea Party interface: andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/chart-of-the-day-5.html

On Language and writing (re. Orwell)

Ken Robinson at TED - "do schools kill creativity?": http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=j9z2bqs1oz
George Carlin on euphemistic language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNk_kzQCclo&feature=related
RSA Animate by Steven Pinker on language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-son3EJTrU&feature=relmfu
Education and the 'web 2.0 revolution': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xb5spS8pmE&feature=player_embedded
Charlie Booker on the American news media (not exactly neutral...obviously): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aEk864YrKw

And a broader-ranging show - How TV Ruined your Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4SiOYZmz7I&feature=related
And this - 'how to report the news': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI

And finally, some more comic relief - Ali G interview Noam Chomsky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro&feature=player_embedded

In the news

A Burkean view on the Arab Spring: volokh.com/2011/10/11/egypt-sliding-into-military-dictatorship
An oversimplified but interesting take on the OWS/Tea Party interface: andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/chart-of-the-day-5.html
A recent take on our discussion of meritocracy: www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/2011/10/11/wendell-berry-meritocracy-steve-jobs/
One example of a philosophical approach to OWS and the 99/53% thing: http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=3396
Any thoughts on this?: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/should-you-vote.html
Revisiting free speech: Cory Doctorow on porn filters: boingboing.net/2011/10/17/uk-media-swallowed-the-adult-content-filter-line.html

On Language and writing (re. Orwell)

Ken Robinson at TED - "do schools kill creativity?": http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=j9z2bqs1oz
George Carlin on euphemistic language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNk_kzQCclo&feature=related
RSA Animate by Steven Pinker on language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-son3EJTrU&feature=relmfu
Education and the 'web 2.0 revolution': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xb5spS8pmE&feature=player_embedded
Charlie Booker on the American news media (not exactly neutral...obviously): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aEk864YrKw

And a broader-ranging show - How TV Ruined your Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQuHocBmxw
And this - 'how to report the news': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI

And finally, some more comic relief - Ali G interview Noam Chomsky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro&feature=player_embedded

A few of very, very many posts I've seen on OWS

A radical article that ties together a lot of what we've been discussing, and which focuses in particular on political violence (it also mentions a new book by Steven Pinker on violence and civilization that's been getting a lot of attention): http://maisonneuve.org/pressroom/article/2011/oct/17/should-occupy-wall-street-take-arms/
A reasonably diverse assortment of views, from people writing in to Andrew Sullivan's blog: andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/dissent-of-the-day-ctd.html
And a tie in to our sessions on the social contract: occupy the Constitution?: http://balkin.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-constitution.html
Tuesday's Daily Show segment on OWS, with John Oliver: http://www.hulu.com/watch/290664/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-99#s-p1-sr-i1

(Playing into the parodies of both the right and the left...) The dude abides: http://www.clusterflock.org/2011/10/it-feels-more-a-propos-than-ever-no.html

Another perspective, from Herman Cain: "blame yourself": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljWhgjAhk8&feature=player_embedded
An article from Scientific American that directly overlaps with our discussion of Marx, alienation, and conspicuous consumption: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/10/19/should-car-ads-be-banned/
And speaking of debt - the adjuncts and the UML political science club are co-hosting a screening and discussion on public higher education and debt. More info here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179081235508550
On corporate tax breaks (what's the argument for having such things?): http://www.usuncut.org/images/infographic-corporate-tax-cheats-pay-up.jpg

Distributive Justice: Rawls v Nozick

Nozick's 'tale of the slave', from Anarchy, State, and Utopia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMST58Ww_ro
Michael Walzer on the free market and morality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN_a2u6aItU
Handy bare-bones outline of Rawls' Theory of Justice: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/entropy/rawls.html
On empathy and the veil of ignorance: http://aidthoughts.org/?p=1718
On 9-9-9 and inequality: http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/9-9-9-in-one-really-long-graph/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JaredBernstein+%28Jared+Bernstein%29

Revisiting the flat tax: andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/the-return-of-the-flat-tax.html
9-0-9 for the poor, apparently: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/10/poor-cains-9-9-9-plan-become-9-0-9/43982/

Measuring income inequality with the Gini coefficient: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/what-are-wallst-protestors-angry-about/
Another possible reason for opposition to redistribution: andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/do-poor-people-want-redistribution.html

On Liberalism and Multiculturalism

Critic of multiculturalism (and 'Eurabia'-scaremonger) Mark Steyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdEGJb5W5ks

An article by Steyn for the National Review: http://article.nationalreview.com/430228/parochially-post-american/mark-steyn

Sarkozy: 'the burqa is not welcome in France': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=briS1bI7yeY
Is this a valid criticism, or a smokescreen for crude racism?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHgI6mUtcE
Salman Rushdie on multiculturalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn831hlh2L4
A different response to multiculturalism: Al Jazeera on the Chinese Uigher issue in 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqT8yOt0hBE&feature=related
How similar issues (cosmopolitanism, in this case) affect cultural relations between nations: "Whose art is it?": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rLMnu93iZk
A (rather complex) talk with prof. Seyla Benhabib on the internationalization of cosmopolitan norms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmu-e6jHYDs
A lecture by Kwame Anthony Appiah on 'Ethics in a World of Strangers': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esZQ2cf2Gkw
Seth Godin at TED, on 'the tribes we lead': http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html

Does this 'count'?: http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/09/19/lol-tesco-supermarket-accused-of-discriminating-against-jedis/

On names, culture, and employability: http://chrisblattman.com/2011/02/07/are-amelie-and-gregoire-more-employable-than-aishah-and-abdul/
A much-cited column by Ross Douthat on 'the roots of white anxiety': http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/opinion/19douthat.html
More from Bhikhu Parekh on cultural pluralism here: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2011/02/cultural-pluralism.html
multiculturalism in the news: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/02/the-many-meanings-of-multiculturalism/21161/
'fighting multiculturalism on campus': http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/10/youth_for_western_civilization_cpac/index.html
On the limits of relativism and subjectivism: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/03/meta-ethics-realism-and-intuitionism.html

In the news, & re. class discussion

On the moral foundations of Occupy Wall Street, using a language similar to Haidt's: http://reason.com/archives/2011/10/20/the-moral-foundations-of-occup
One of the more insidious effects of eroding social capital: http://www.newser.com/story/131515/yueyue-chinese-hit-run-toddler-dies-in-guangzhou.html
(One of you mentioned education reform as a topic of interest...): http://peterlevine.ws/?p=7292
A more philosophical (and positive) view of the human microphone, featuring a clip by Judith Butler: http://www.newappsblog.com/2011/10/assembly-political-space-and-the-human-microphone.html
An interesting piece on the boundaries of moral obligation ('are nations tribes?'): http://www.overcomingbias.com/2011/09/are-nations-tribes.html

On Feminism

Fox News columnist (responding to Jon Stewart and others) on J. Crew president's son's pink toenails: www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/26/jenna-lyons-and-j-crew-wanted-your-son-to-stop-being-such-boy/
On Dilbert's Scott Adams and the Mens Rights movement: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/03/29/scott_adams_mens_rights_movement/index.html
On the limits of gender, sex, and social versus biological construction: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7759903/Woman-become-less-trusting-when-given-the-male-hormone-testosterone.html
"The End of Men", on the rise of women in the workforce: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135
On the danger of essentializing gender (a critique of a gendered Ethic of Care): http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2010/07/feminist-women-aren-t-softer-more-moral/19240/
"Women-only leadership - would it prevent war?": http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pellissier20110215
The gender gap in pay by industry: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/02/19/the-gender-gap-in-pay-by-industry/
On the gendering of sexualization: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/03/26/the-gender-of-sexualization-urban-outfitters-graphic-tees-site/

More on gendering language, in this case in toy commercials: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/04/04/gendered-language-in-tv-toy-commercials/

"Many feminisms" piece on Riz Khan: http://africasacountry.com/2011/02/20/many-feminisms/
The Wikipedia page is handy for seeing how hugely diverse feminism is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
Some (pretty offensive) 'man on the street' views on feminism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pdbnzFUsXI
Naomi Wolf on 'third wave feminism': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQI-ougLsg
Helen Thomas on feminism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezoGCFqlS5I
Tronto article: 'the value of care': http://www.bostonreview.net/BR27.1/tronto.html

Animals as Symbols

John Berger's famous Ways of Seeing (not specifically about animals, but parallels can be drawn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnfB-pUm3eI
A very different--and quite odd--form of symbolism: the 'cheezburger empire': http://icanhascheezburger.com/
An odd assortment of photoshopped animals: http://www.worth1000.com/contests/25501/animal-proportions-4
Medieval animal symbolism: http://medievalstudies.ceu.hu/projects/madness
One of very many examples of animals in (graphic) literature - Mouse Guard: http://www.mouseguard.net/
'Formal portraits' with animals: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Regresiones/262428
Masked monkeys...: http://www.theworldsbestever.com/2011/06/02/topeng-monkeys/
"Alan, Alan, Alan!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hwLbhpatJo
Birds with arms - http://www.iywib.com/birds_with_arms.php

Links on Richard Rorty and Antifoundationalism

Rorty on the value of uncertainty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyx0rNyxFrk
Rorty on pragmatism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBcOGa671QA
Defining foundationalism (to understand its opposite...): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundationalism

Vandana Shiva and the Global South

Shiva on the global food crisis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KfvYjZ5fyw
Shiva on environmental justice in India: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbVlZUsm34
TIME photoessay, 'what the world eats': http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html
"12 kinds of environmentalists" (this list is by no means exhaustive, but is meant to show the diversity of 'types' of environmentalists even within the 'Global North'): http://www.bravenewleaf.com/environment/2008/03/the-12-kinds-of.html
FRONTLINE piece on agricultural land ownership: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/12/brazil_cutting.html
Stephen Colbert in congress - on the plight of immigrant farmworkers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1T75jBYeCs&feature=player_embedded
A world map of climate vulnerability: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/10/map-of-the-day-1.html

On Fukuyama and Huntington

Useful (but long and complex) video of Fukuyama speaking about "the end of history revisited": http://fora.tv/2007/06/28/Francis_Fukuyama_End_Of_History_Revisited
Edward Said criticizing "The Clash of Civilizations": http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6705627964658699201&ei=VSmsSqTPFMTylQeJ37CaAw&q=the+clash+of+civilizations&client=firefox-a#

Another critique of the 'clash of civilizations' (definitely helps if you speak French, but the images are pretty self-explanatory): http://espace.canoe.ca/mourad83/video/view/46695
Excellent series of videos by Said on Orientalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2T6a_2gBo&feature=related

Christopher Hitchens on Fukuyama's "End of History": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Jt-JU1azU
Questioning the West-Islam divide - on framing, the 'other', and the clash of civilizations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWyJJQbFago
Alaa al Aswany on the Clash of Civilizations (from the 'Big Think' project): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTQBgvuSwig
Huntington on Charlie Rose (in 1997): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2337511273984747591&hl=en&emb=1#

Is this a fair lambasting of Huntington's view as a self-fulfilling prophecy?: http://www.theonion.com/articles/relations-break-down-between-us-and-them,715/

On Friedman and Rand

Capitalist champion of the world's poor: Hernando de Soto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYe7lbT-I8A

More from de Soto here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW5FKNpgg6I

Milton Friedman - Greed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
On Friedman and the 'freedom to choose' - a documentary/advertisement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBB7l-SfoK4
Longer interview with a younger Friedman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfdRpyfEmBE
Milton Friedman on Charlie Rose: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2963837673813979186#
One WSJ op-ed columnist's view on Freidman's effect on Chile: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703411304575093572032665414.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Ayn Rand Interview with Mike Wallace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ukJiBZ8_4k

Relevant excerpt on liberty and socialism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RxKW-P5V8

Ayn Rand interview with Phil Donahue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzGFytGBDN8
Howard Roark speech from The Fountainhead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc7oZ9yWqO4&feature=related
Does Greenspan's 'admission' present a problem for free marketeers?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-1pwEwk5E
Scroll down for some interesting reviews of Rand's Introduction to Ojbectivist Epistemology: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0452010306
Homepage for the Ayn Rand Institute (there are many other similar institutions, but this is the 'official' one): http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
Various libertarian-related links I've compiled here

Links on Anarchism

On the Spanish Civil War and Anarchism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUig0lFHDDw
Alan Moore on Anarchism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKfF-nxjDi0
Documentary on Emma Goldman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFoMfoQSCh8

Goldman on Anarchism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTCMcO4WTjE
Goldman timeline (from PBS documentary): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/timeline/index.html

Chomsky on Anarchism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WEFBNrCUlo, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G6kf7XM9Nk
'Situationist' clip, 'consumerism and its discontents' (from a Godard film, I think...): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FKsQUCZFUY&feature=related

On 'freeganism': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5q_FAxDuWs

An animation on Anarchism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KECcfKViog&feature=related
A neat video on mutualism and competition in nature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlzilMXWMcg&feature=watch_response

Another video (seemingly from the same guy): 'radical decentralization': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d9ny39DBSA&NR=1

Links on Walzer and Just War Theory

Can modern war be just? (Howard Zinn says no): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFGCLu3YWwE
Clip on Christianity, Augustine, and Just War: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9tu7xSQt_A
Short overview of Aquinas' requirements for a war to be just: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6f9sO3EESI
Short talk on the ethics of war and conflict: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-2Z0FsViJE
One overview of International Humanitarian Law: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwqRo4Xkix8
On "war porn": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VeyX_gcrNE
On the ethics of unmanned warfare

On predator drones in Pakistan (from Al-Jazeera): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS2wgiCkufI
A different view (and with many more views!) on predator drones...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMh8Cjnzen8

Scroll down for shared food policy links...

Re. class discussion

On how much eugenics we 'want': http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/11/how-much-eugenics-are-we-willing-tolerate/44923/
Larry Lessig on engaging democracy to fight the influence of money in politics: boingboing.net/2011/11/17/united-republic-creative-inc.html
on Darwin, the invisible hand, and OWS (from the PBS News Hour): http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/makingsense_11-18.html

Technology and society (focus on social media and information technology)

Tim Wu on the Master Switch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVZLl4EKQis

on net neutrality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7dJxDSHMk
at a conference in Berlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCUTogbAuoA
on 'information empires': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ZXNaXvSUE

Interview at Google with James Gleick, author of The Information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOzSzcDwg8
Clay Shirky on cellphones, social media, and the 'twitter revolution': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_iN_QubRs0

on cognitive surplus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu7ZpWecIS8
'institutions vs. collaboration': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQViNNOAkw

Evgeny Morozov and RSA Animate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk8x3V-sUgU

'how the internet strenghtens dictatorships': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hFk6FDrZBc
the internet in society: empowering or censoring citizens?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah_T9cg-J6s

Eli Pariser on the filter bubble at TED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s

'how the hidden web is shaping lives', at RSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_sim_Wc3mY

Jarod Lanier on the 'failure of web 2.0': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIwikI7IVYs

'conversations with history': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8FYj1wKyaY
'You are not a gadget' at RSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JZFx6rIlY

Doug Ruskhoff, 'program or be programmed': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgicuytCkoY
TED Prize-winner and street artist (literally) JR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5MEC5MPjvg
Re. the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act: http://vimeo.com/31100268
If you have Netflix WI, the movie Page One about the NYT is relevant to all of this: http://www.magpictures.com/pageone/

On Religion and Society

Council on Foreign Relations symposium on religion and society: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4hryykQZBk
Obama on religion and politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvKX16Eygs0
One of the most commonly cited controversial practices, female genital mutilation, in this case in England: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jul/25/female-circumcision-children-british-law
One American Christian's perspective, "American Misconceptions About Religion and Politics": http://www.5min.com/Video/American-Misconceptions-About-Religion-and-Politics-311603360
Reza Aslam versus Sam Harris: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ReasonD
And re. Egypt, elections, Islam, and the Arab Spring: http://www.newser.com/article/d9rdq2700/egypt-releases-new-election-results-for-party-lists-showing-islamists-dominating.html
Newt Gingrich on religion and political power: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Xke_AYffY&feature=player_embedded

On a related note: atheists are like rapists, apparently: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Atheists+rapists+list+people+religious+believers+distrust+most+study+finds/5794699/story.html

Movie on Netflix WI (which I'm watching right now...) on religion and LGBT issues - For the Bible Tells Me So: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajBR0dq0XXk

Other links

Daniel Kahneman on 'happiness': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgRlrBl-7Yg&feature=player_embedded
(mentioned in class) Miss America contestants on evolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkBmhM0R2A0

And a parody here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QBv2CFTSWU&feature=related

Also re. class discussion--on the teaching of creation and evolution: http://peterlevine.ws/?p=7642

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Fall 2011 Political Thought, links to date

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