Deadline Demolition

Karl Marx, Douglas Adams, Ted Heath, Dorothy Parker, Yoda. Guess who never missed a deadline? Dear Herr Doctor, You are already ten months behind with the manuscript of Das Kapital, which you have agreed to write for us. If we do not receive the manuscript within six months we shall be obliged to commission another…

Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements

Latin America may be the last place on Earth that still has widespread and vibrant grassroots social movements. This superb collection of essays and interviews with activists, scholars, and writers sheds light on the history, the successes, and the challenges these movements face. Having spent time in twelve of the fourteen countries profiled in this…

November 15: Day of the Imprisoned Writer

Those who speak out against tyranny and suffer the consequences – you are not forgotten. Nor are you silenced, because your words will live on and echo through the ages as the tyrants are turned to dust and their evil deeds scattered on the four winds. “I go now to my living death because I honoured…

Mexico, mi amor, mi tristeza

I was in Mexico City this week, giving some talks to educators. Inevitably, in private moments between sessions and at dinner, the conversation turned to the forty-three desaparecidos – the ‘disappeared’ students who, it appears, were brutally murdered. Their plight has horrified the nation – indeed, the world. Mexico contains the most wonderful people, and…