Author Archives: David S. Meyer

Unknown's avatar

About David S. Meyer

Author and professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine

Legal change is a long haul

Posted on April 28, 2015 by David S. Meyer

The Supreme Court hears arguments on Obergefell v. Hodges today; the justices will consider whether there is a right to same sex marriage, and whether states are compelled to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states (see: full faith … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s never one thing: violence in Baltimore

Posted on April 27, 2015 by David S. Meyer

A lot of things have to go wrong for protests to turn into sustained violent confrontations with the police–as in Baltimore today.  The reports on the repeated protests against police violence last week emphasized that the overwhelming majority of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Patriotic conflict at UC-Irvine unflagging

Posted on March 13, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Amazingly, national interest in the flag conflict at the University of California, Irvine, where I teach, is unwavering.  More than a few people seem to think that there is political mileage in beating up on a few students who sponsored … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

More flags

Posted on March 11, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Participants in the flag debate around my campus note that the American flag has been deployed in the service of heroic causes and of less heroic and admirable efforts.  The truth is that if you can’t find the flag used … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Rally ’round the flag, Irvine edition

Posted on March 11, 2015 by David S. Meyer

It’s always nice to have patriotic visitors to my campus, and wonderful to see members of the community and students engaging in civil discourse.  But the flag controversy is a sideshow that distracts from real issues in the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#Selma50: Whose history?

Posted on March 8, 2015 by David S. Meyer

The thousands of people who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama this weekend would not be attacked by state troopers, nor face gas or police dogs. Fifty years makes for an auspicious anniversary.  The brutal beatings that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Less amusing animals: How movements work

Posted on March 6, 2015 by David S. Meyer

As anyone who has stumbled across the internet and sampled a tiny sliver of the astounding variety of cat videos, animals can be entertaining.  For years animal rights advocates have been emphasizing the price those animals pay for our amusement. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Ferguson report: How protest works

Posted on March 5, 2015 by David S. Meyer

The Department of Justice has released its report on policing in Ferguson.  It tells an extremely disturbing story, in which the killing of Michael Brown and the volatile protests that followed, the awful policing of those protests, and the subsequent … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Battles over history

Posted on February 27, 2015 by David S. Meyer

I don’t need to close my eyes to love America. Then again, I’m not a high school student and I never took an Advanced Placement course in American History (APUSH).  But I like the “education without limitation” sign above, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Do you believe in science?

Posted on February 23, 2015 by David S. Meyer

The image above is from the Heartland Institute, an advocacy group which receives funding from a number of conservative sources (Scaife, Olin, Koch, for example) to promote doubts about climate change, the health risks of cigarettes, the dangers of fracking, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments