Words are a product of power and can also be used as an instrument of power. These assertions – by Pierre Bourdieu, the famed French sociolinguist – rang particularly true in 2020. “Viral” and “virus” were snatched back from Silicon Valley by nature while the remainder of the year’s lexicon reflected American economic and cultural … More The Language of 2020 and What it Tells Us about American Power
A Transatlantic Take on the Final Stretch of the US Election, Emotion, and Global Geopolitical Shifts Opinion The final debate of the US presidential race was a reminder of how little the decision of who gets to be next president, and ultimately “leader of the free world” will depend on fact. While Kristen Welker, the … More Quick Take: The Last Leg of the US Election and What Love’s Got to Do With It
On race, President Trump clarified his unwillingness to condemn white supremacy, even though this time the question was posed indirectly. Why should the rest of the world care, though? Whether Trump loses or wins, both electoral outcomes will have the potential of emboldening racial supremacist movements in the US and beyond: A sucessful run for … More Quick Take, The United States’ Divided Presidential Town Halls in Transatlantic Perspective
In sharp contrast to the previous week’s unwieldy exchange between the two main candidates who cast the US in unfavorable light, the Vice Presidential debate elicited considered global policy debate that has been rare to find. Granted, the primary purpose of the debates is to inform the American electorate. However, there is no getting around … More Quick Take, The Transatlantic Twitter Life of the US Vice-Presidential Debate
A beloved French rapper, Maître Gims, sheds light onto the complexities of defining race in France. It’s a story that you are unlikely to find elsewhere but has recently been captured by Netflix. A story of a Congolese man whose parents struggled to find their roots in France, of children being cared for under a … More French Rap and Hip-Hop and the Geographies of Masculinity, Race, and Americanization in French Cities
Warning: The attempt at metaphor in this article is strained and painful. Hopefully, however, it serves a greater good (i.e. be warned, an ill-considered attempt to bring Coming to America into dialogue with the first US presidential debate of 2020 is about to ensue.) In his iconic role as African Prince Akeem, Eddie Murphy arrives … More A Coming To America Moment: The Presidential Debate in Transatlantic Perspective
Images from lower Manhattan are what are emblazoned in our minds when the words “hijacked commercial flight by radical islamists” come to mind. Yet, L’Assaut (The Assault), a 2010 French film, reminds us that this was not the first time that this scenario had played out. A practice run targeting the Eiffel Tower had already … More International Security Policy for Angry Immigrant Men: Revisiting Post 9-11 Foreign Policy through French Film
