Daniel Little
rising tide of radical populism; defense of liberal democracy; social democracy
We need to think very clearly about the policies and actions our government is carrying out with respect to "illegal immigration". The Trump administration has waged a war of hate-based language and accusation against non-citizens in the United States, and has set the goal of achieving one million arrests and deportations annually. It has characterized …
Continue reading "Are we tolerating the policies of a modern-day Eichmann?"
Every day that passes brings more bad news from Donald Trump’s unhinged behavior. His actions and dictatorial executive orders have caused immeasurable harm to our country, our citizens and residents, our friends and allies in the world community, and the standing of our country as a leader and a moral example. Trump’s unprovoked war against …
If we accept the premise that exploitative tenancy, credit, and employment relations are fundamental to the enduring patterns of low human wellbeing in much of rural Asia, Africa, and the Americas, then changing those relations is the critical factor for improving human development in the coming 50 years. But if we also recognize the current …
Selected materials removed from National Park sites at instructions from Trump administration (legal cases underway) (Gemini generated) It is quite difficult to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country under the current conditions. The occasion has been hijacked by a president and a political party that have no dignity, no respect for the basic values …
Military coup, Poland, December 1981 Poland is an important example of the paths taken by the citizens of satellite states within the former Soviet Union. Soviet domination of the governments of Poland, Hungary, East Germany (GDR), Czechoslovakia, and other satellite states led to uprisings in several states, resulting in violent military interventions by the Soviet …
Continue reading "Poland’s self-limiting revolution in 1980"
The question of how the political values and attitudes of young people are formed has come up frequently in recent posts. This question is especially interesting in the case of the rise of far-right parties in Germany, including especially the AfD. What is of particular interest is that there seem to be several divisions at …
No Kings Protest Anti-Orban Protest A central theme in Rethinking Analytical Sociology is my concern that the founders of analytical sociology presented the field as a general and universally applicable approach to sociological research. Associated with this claim is what I called "ABM fundamentalism" -- the view that computational models could and should be applied …
Ethnic cleansing, Srebrenica, July 1995 Milan Obaidi is a prolific Danish social psychologist who has worked extensively on right-wing extremism. His scientific publications provide greater detail on his emerging views of the psychology of extremism. A useful document for the ongoing discussion of the mechanisms of right-wing extremism here is a well-documented 2020 summary of …
Continue reading "Racist extremism and inter-group violence"
Our current political scene presents an unresolved and important question: why have the ideologies of hate, fear, nationalism, antagonism, and violence had such appeal to a segment of young men across many countries in the past thirty years? How does it happen that many fairly typical twelve-year-old boys somehow become captivated by the extremist right-wing …
Continue reading "Social psychologists on the appeal of antagonism and hate"
March on Selma, 1965 Human beings have attitudes, behaviors, habits, stereotypes, and values. And somehow these mental attributes are developed or acquired in the course of normal human social life. But how, when, and with what results does this process work? And how persistent are a set of attitudes and values once established in the …
Continue reading "How are an individual’s political values formed?"
