Category Archives: Uncategorized

Froze and reversed the arms race? Claiming credit on an anniversary.

Posted on June 12, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Thirty(three) years ago today, one million people marched in the streets of New York City to protest the nuclear arms race in general and the policies of Ronald Reagan in particular.  Organized around a “nuclear freeze” proposal, the demonstration was … Continue reading →

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Organizing (debt) forgiveness; Occupy continues

Posted on June 11, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Occupy’s campaign against economic and political inequality continues, although you have to look a little bit below the headlines to see its efforts and influence. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan just announced that the Federal government would forgive student loans … Continue reading →

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Activist social science

Posted on May 28, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Like way too many social scientists, I’ve been overly obsessed with the LaCour/Green retraction. Partly, it’s the perverse attraction of watching the slow-motion crash of a career, but more substantially, it’s a chance to reflect on how social science is … Continue reading →

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How do people change their minds? Others?

Posted on May 22, 2015 by David S. Meyer

More from Columbia University: Donald Green, a professor of political science, has asked Science to retract an article he and a UCLA graduate student, Michael LaCour, published last year.  The paper demonstrated that an extended and open-ended conversation with a … Continue reading →

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Take the degree, leave the mattress.

Posted on May 21, 2015 by David S. Meyer

Emma Sulkowicz dragged her mattress across the Columbia University campus for the last time this week, when she participated in a Class Day graduation ceremony.  This day, several friends helped Sulkowicz carry the mattress across the stages, but mostly she’s … Continue reading →

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Will the revolution be tweeted?

Posted on May 10, 2015 by David S. Meyer

More than forty years ago, the talented and tragic poet/musician/activist Gil Scott-Heron rapped–before there was rap–that the Revolution would not be televised.  Television was controlled by big corporations and commercial interests, and social change would come from the streets.  But … Continue reading →

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Justice, peace, and indictments in Baltimore #Ferguson

Posted on May 2, 2015 by David S. Meyer

When Maryland State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby decided to indict six police officers for the death of Freddie Gray, she may have been responding only to the evidence of criminal conduct by law enforcement. Her office found that police lacked probable … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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