- Professor Robert Barsky
Vanderbilt University
Nashville TN 37235-6312 - 615-322-6900
Robert F Barsky
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, Guggenheim Fellowship, Department Member
- Vanderbilt University, Bandy Center Faculty Director, Faculty MemberVanderbilt University, French and Italian, Faculty Member, and 4 moreadd
- History of Ideas, French Literature, English Literature, Literary Theory, Philosophy Of Language, Historical Linguistics, and 21 morePolitical Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Anarchism, Migration Studies, Refugee Studies, Human Rights, French and Italian, Translation Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Poetry, Academic Writing, Bakhtin, Phenomenology of the body, Argumentation, Law and Literature, Dialogism, Literature and Law, Border Studies, Noam Chomsky, Marc Angenot, Michel Meyer, and Borders and Borderlandsedit
- Over the past thirty years, Robert Barsky’s interdisciplinary work has drawn from studies in language and literature ... moreOver the past thirty years, Robert Barsky’s interdisciplinary work has drawn from studies in language and literature to address forced migration, homelessness, and poverty. His new book, ‘Clamouring for Legal Protection: What the Great Books Teach Us About People Fleeing From Persecution’ (Hart Law / Bloomsbury) “combines the 'Great Books' of world literature with contemporary legal tenets to explore the complexity of their predicament, demonstrating that, throughout history, many individuals follow the ancient tradition of hospitality and protect migrants, but, swayed by populist identity politics, many societies blame migrants for their ills, foster hostile environments and show 'mountainish inhumanity'." (François Crépeau, Professor of Public International Law, McGill University). This humanistic approach to displacement picks up from his previous works, including: ‘Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and Plight of Peoples Deemed Illegal’, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Hart Socio-Legal Book Prize for the most outstanding piece of socio-legal scholarship of the year. In earlier work, he applies language and literary theory to illuminate the challenges of self-representation in Convention Refugee hearings. ‘Constructing a Productive Other: Discourse Theory and the Convention Refugee Hearing’ (1994) and in ‘Arguing and Justifying: Assessing the Convention Refugees’ Choice of Moment, Motive and Host Country’ (2001).
His approach to social justice has been influenced by a longstanding engagement with the milieus of Noam Chomsky and Zellig Harris, including a trilogy of books published by MIT Press: ‘Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent’ (1997, translated into 12 languages); ‘The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower’ (2008, translated into Korean) and ‘Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism’ (2011). Barsky is now working on an intellectual biography of Nathan Glazer, which will include discussions about the remarkable language and political work undertaken by a small student Zionist organization called Avukah, to which Glazer was affiliated and for which he seemed destined to take the reigns.
Barsky has founded four journals: as an undergraduate at Brandeis University, he founded ‘415 South Street’, a literary magazine; as a graduate student at McGill University, he founded (with Marc Angenot) ‘Discours social/Social Discourse’ which highlights sociocritique and social discourse approaches; as the Visiting Canadian Bicentennial Professor at Yale University he created an on-line open access border-crossing journal called ‘AmeriQuests: Narrative, Law and Society’ (www.ameriquests.org), and he has just launched ‘Contours Collaborations: Border Crossings in Art and Humanities (https://contours.pubpub.org/about).
Barsky’s work has been published and reviewed in influential journals and monographs around the world, and he has held numerous visiting positions, at Yale University, University of Memphis Law School, the Free University of Amsterdam Law School and at the Institutes for Advanced Studies at the University of Edinburgh and in Toulouse. He has led several large-scale research projects that engaged trainees with communities of Convention refugees, undocumented migrants, and homeless people. His work has been supported by agencies and institutions in the US, Canada, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland and England, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Canadian Bar Association, the SSHRC, the FCAR, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Multiculturalism Canada, the Dutch Royal Academy, the French Consulate, and the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective.edit
Noam Chomsky is a renowned scholar, philosopher, and political activist who has made significant contributions to the fields of linguistics, cognitive psychology, and political science. Born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Chomsky earned his... more
Noam Chomsky is a renowned scholar, philosopher, and political activist who has made significant contributions to the fields of linguistics, cognitive psychology, and political science. Born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Chomsky earned his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania and went on to become one of the most influential figures in the field. He is perhaps best known for his theory of generative grammar, which revolutionized the study of language and provided new insights into the workings of the human mind. Chomsky is also a prolific writer and has authored over 100 books on topics ranging from language and cognition to politics and social justice. A committed anarchist and anti-war activist, Chomsky has been a vocal critic of American foreign policy and has used his platform to advocate for human rights and the principles of freedom and democracy.
Robert Barsky is a prominent scholar, writer, and professor of literature and law at Vanderbilt University. He is recognized for his expertise in the fields of language and literature, as well as his contributions to political science and philosophy. Barsky has published numerous books and articles on a diverse range of subjects, including the works of Noam Chomsky, critical theory, immigration, and refugee studies. He is also known for his research on the ethical and legal implications of language use, particularly in the context of legal trials and political discourse. Barsky’s interdisciplinary approach to scholarship has earned him widespread recognition and has influenced the work of many scholars in his field.
Robert Barsky is a prominent scholar, writer, and professor of literature and law at Vanderbilt University. He is recognized for his expertise in the fields of language and literature, as well as his contributions to political science and philosophy. Barsky has published numerous books and articles on a diverse range of subjects, including the works of Noam Chomsky, critical theory, immigration, and refugee studies. He is also known for his research on the ethical and legal implications of language use, particularly in the context of legal trials and political discourse. Barsky’s interdisciplinary approach to scholarship has earned him widespread recognition and has influenced the work of many scholars in his field.
Research Interests:
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects... more
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects his restaurant in the shape of a Fabergé egg, modeled after those remarkable masterpieces that were offered each year by the Czar to his beloved wife in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Fabergé Restaurant becomes 'the' destination for the wealthiest of NYC clients, but it's also the place where a plan is Hatched by three former college roommates to counterfeit billions of dollars and shake the United States economy to its very yolk. A rollicking novel filled with intrigue, passion and voluptuous egg recipes, Hatched is a sumptuous treat.
Research Interests:
The Art of the Review - Episode 12 The Long Review Yelena Kalinsky's picture Audio published by Yelena Kalinsky on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 0 Replies taotrep12thelongreview.mp3 00:00 00:00 Description: We start out the new year with... more
The Art of the Review - Episode 12 The Long Review Yelena Kalinsky's picture Audio published by Yelena Kalinsky on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 0 Replies taotrep12thelongreview.mp3 00:00 00:00 Description:
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms review editor Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program that "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about education and politics in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online, in the interview. The review we discuss in the interview is: Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.Link to the review in the Commons. To receive updates about new episodes and join the discussion, subscribe to H-Podcast. Follow H-Net Reviews on Twitter: @HNet_Reviews or subscribe to the H-Reviews listserv to receive new reviews daily in your email in-box. Credits: The Art of the Review is produced by Robert Cassanello and Yelena Kalinsky, and sponsored by H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online and the University of Central Florida's Center for Humanities & Digital Research. Categories: The Art of the Review, Podcast Keywords: episode, long review, ep12, review, H-Socialisms, Anti-Communism, higher education, interdisciplinarity
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms review editor Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program that "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about education and politics in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online, in the interview. The review we discuss in the interview is: Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.Link to the review in the Commons. To receive updates about new episodes and join the discussion, subscribe to H-Podcast. Follow H-Net Reviews on Twitter: @HNet_Reviews or subscribe to the H-Reviews listserv to receive new reviews daily in your email in-box. Credits: The Art of the Review is produced by Robert Cassanello and Yelena Kalinsky, and sponsored by H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online and the University of Central Florida's Center for Humanities & Digital Research. Categories: The Art of the Review, Podcast Keywords: episode, long review, ep12, review, H-Socialisms, Anti-Communism, higher education, interdisciplinarity
Research Interests:
Presented by CIPS and the International Political Economy Network (IPEN) How do works of fiction inform our understanding of challenges in the contemporary and future global political economy? A panel discussion on works such as Margaret... more
Presented by CIPS and the International Political Economy Network (IPEN)
How do works of fiction inform our understanding of challenges in the contemporary and future global political economy? A panel discussion on works such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Patrick Califia’s The Hustler, featuring:
Ummni Khan (Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University), whose research interests focus on the overlapping ways that sexuality, gender and the racialized body are constructed, policed and put into discourse in law and society.
Robert Barsky (Canada Research Chair in Law, Narrative and Border Crossing, Carleton University), author of several books including Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and Plight of People Deemed Illegal, and a novel: Hatched.
Nisa Malli, (Senior Policy Analyst with the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship at Ryerson University), leads research on technology, labour, economic growth, and inequality. She is the editor of an ongoing interview series, “The Policymaker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
Moderated by Chris Huggins, School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa.
How do works of fiction inform our understanding of challenges in the contemporary and future global political economy? A panel discussion on works such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Patrick Califia’s The Hustler, featuring:
Ummni Khan (Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University), whose research interests focus on the overlapping ways that sexuality, gender and the racialized body are constructed, policed and put into discourse in law and society.
Robert Barsky (Canada Research Chair in Law, Narrative and Border Crossing, Carleton University), author of several books including Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and Plight of People Deemed Illegal, and a novel: Hatched.
Nisa Malli, (Senior Policy Analyst with the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship at Ryerson University), leads research on technology, labour, economic growth, and inequality. She is the editor of an ongoing interview series, “The Policymaker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
Moderated by Chris Huggins, School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky is Canada Research Chair in Law, Narrative, and Border Crossing in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is on leave from the College of Arts and Science and the School of Law at... more
Robert Barsky is Canada Research Chair in Law, Narrative, and Border Crossing in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is on leave from the College of Arts and Science and the School of Law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an expert on Noam Chomsky, literary theory, convention refugees, immigration and refugee law, borders, work through the Americas, and Montreal.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky is a professor of comparative literature, French, and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University. Barsky is an expert on Noam Chomsky, convention refugees, and immigration law. He has written two biographies of Chomsky... more
Robert Barsky is a professor of comparative literature, French, and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University.
Barsky is an expert on Noam Chomsky, convention refugees, and immigration law. He has written two biographies of Chomsky
including, The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower. More recently, Barsky wrote the biography, Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism. He spoke at the Denver Justice & Peace Committee on March 13, 2014.
Barsky is an expert on Noam Chomsky, convention refugees, and immigration law. He has written two biographies of Chomsky
including, The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower. More recently, Barsky wrote the biography, Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism. He spoke at the Denver Justice & Peace Committee on March 13, 2014.
Research Interests:
An interview with Robert Barsky on his book, "Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism." Zellig Harris was a renowned American linguist, mathematical syntactician, and methodologist of science. Robert Barsky... more
An interview with Robert Barsky on his book,
"Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to
Socialist Zionism." Zellig Harris was a renowned
American linguist, mathematical syntactician, and
methodologist of science. Robert Barsky teaches
at Vanderbilt University.
Audio courtesy of Chris Cummins
and New Books In Language
www.NewBooksInLanguage.com
"Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to
Socialist Zionism." Zellig Harris was a renowned
American linguist, mathematical syntactician, and
methodologist of science. Robert Barsky teaches
at Vanderbilt University.
Audio courtesy of Chris Cummins
and New Books In Language
www.NewBooksInLanguage.com
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky and Noam Chomsky discuss Bernie Sanders life and work.
Research Interests:
Bloomsbury Press / Hart Law (2021) In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of so-called Great Books, and discovers that many beloved characters therein encounter obstacles similar to those faced... more
Bloomsbury Press / Hart Law (2021) In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of so-called Great Books, and discovers that many beloved characters therein encounter obstacles similar to those faced by contemporary refugees and undocumented persons.
The struggles of Odysseus, Moses, Aeneas, Dante, Satan, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland, among many others, provide surprising insights into current discussions about those who have left untenable situations in their home countries in search of legal protection.
Law students, lawyers, social scientists, literary scholars and general readers who are interested in learning about international refugee law and immigration regulations in home and host countries will find herein a plethora of details about border crossings, including those undertaken to flee pandemics, civil unrest, racism, intolerance, war, forced marriage, or limited opportunities in their home countries.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Opening Up the Great Books
I. Canons, Great Books and Classics
II. 'Popular' Culture
III. From Cultural Reflection to Legal Protection
IV. Why Fiction? What About the Real World?
V. From Escapism to Engagement
VI. From Empathy to Revelation
1. Spreading Disease, or Inoculating Us from Intolerance?
I. Pandemics in Literature and Culture
A. The Arc of Disease, Suffering and Death
II. The Foreignness of Diseases
III. The Rhetoric of Blame
A. From Vulnerable to Unwanted and Diseased
IV. The Plague
V. From Symptoms to Panic
VI. Creating Empathy
VII. Limbo and the Will to Move Around
VIII. From Quarantines to Quarrels to Empathy?
IX. Art in the Time of Cholera
X. Crossing the Border into Obscenity
XI. Predicting Post-Pandemic Politics
2. Following Pathways, Networks and Guides
I. The Cessation Clause
II. Following Intermediaries in Religious Texts
III. Human Smugglers
IV. Language Issues and Displacement
V. Pursuing the Land of Milk and Honey
VI. Divine Intermediaries and Shift s to Immigration Policy
VII. Guides from Behind the Veil
VIII. Intermediaries to Eden
IX. From Freedom Fighter to Refugee
X. From Civil War to Hell
XI. A Reluctant Follower
XII. Fleeing with Loved Ones
XIII. The Purposeless Quest
XIV. Constantly on the Road
XV. The Search for Treasure
XVI. The Promised Land
3. Opening Doors and Scaling Walls
I. From Protection to Integration
II. From Victim to Slave
III. Supplicating Before the Gatekeeping King
IV. Consulting Constituents on Border Policy
V. Opening the Right Doors
VI. Doors, Doorways and the People Hidden Behind Them
VII. Before the Law
VIII. Ill-Advised Strategies for Opening Doors
IX. Real-World Gatekeeping
X. Rights at the Border
XI. Behind Closed Doors
XII. Doors Towards Metaphysical Voyages
4. Confronting Inhospitable Spaces and Hostile Hosts
I. Storms, Floods and the Purging of Unwanted Civilisations
II. The Romantic Refugee
III. Mary and Percy Shelley: Feminist and Atheist
IV. Refugees in a Time of Climate Change
A. Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein and His Monster: Climate Refugees
B. Percy Shelley's Perspective on Climate and Geomorphology
C. Lord Byron: Catastrophism, Climate Change and Ensuing Darkness
V. From Creation of the Earth to Apocalypse
VI. Being Misled into the Wrong Paradise
VII. Finding Revelation Instead of Refuge
VIII. From Persecution to Punishment
IX. Chance Encounters
X. Finding Hell
XI. Transformation into Darkness
5. Encounters with Aliens, Monsters and Terrorists
I. Monsters in the Great Tradition
II. Insidious Monsters in the (Real) World
III. First Encounters
IV. The Monstrous Unfamiliar
V. A Refugee Amongst Refugees
VI. Confronting Your Neighbour: The Monster
VII. Identifying the Monsters, then Living with Them
Conclusion: From Persecution to Wonderland
The struggles of Odysseus, Moses, Aeneas, Dante, Satan, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland, among many others, provide surprising insights into current discussions about those who have left untenable situations in their home countries in search of legal protection.
Law students, lawyers, social scientists, literary scholars and general readers who are interested in learning about international refugee law and immigration regulations in home and host countries will find herein a plethora of details about border crossings, including those undertaken to flee pandemics, civil unrest, racism, intolerance, war, forced marriage, or limited opportunities in their home countries.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Opening Up the Great Books
I. Canons, Great Books and Classics
II. 'Popular' Culture
III. From Cultural Reflection to Legal Protection
IV. Why Fiction? What About the Real World?
V. From Escapism to Engagement
VI. From Empathy to Revelation
1. Spreading Disease, or Inoculating Us from Intolerance?
I. Pandemics in Literature and Culture
A. The Arc of Disease, Suffering and Death
II. The Foreignness of Diseases
III. The Rhetoric of Blame
A. From Vulnerable to Unwanted and Diseased
IV. The Plague
V. From Symptoms to Panic
VI. Creating Empathy
VII. Limbo and the Will to Move Around
VIII. From Quarantines to Quarrels to Empathy?
IX. Art in the Time of Cholera
X. Crossing the Border into Obscenity
XI. Predicting Post-Pandemic Politics
2. Following Pathways, Networks and Guides
I. The Cessation Clause
II. Following Intermediaries in Religious Texts
III. Human Smugglers
IV. Language Issues and Displacement
V. Pursuing the Land of Milk and Honey
VI. Divine Intermediaries and Shift s to Immigration Policy
VII. Guides from Behind the Veil
VIII. Intermediaries to Eden
IX. From Freedom Fighter to Refugee
X. From Civil War to Hell
XI. A Reluctant Follower
XII. Fleeing with Loved Ones
XIII. The Purposeless Quest
XIV. Constantly on the Road
XV. The Search for Treasure
XVI. The Promised Land
3. Opening Doors and Scaling Walls
I. From Protection to Integration
II. From Victim to Slave
III. Supplicating Before the Gatekeeping King
IV. Consulting Constituents on Border Policy
V. Opening the Right Doors
VI. Doors, Doorways and the People Hidden Behind Them
VII. Before the Law
VIII. Ill-Advised Strategies for Opening Doors
IX. Real-World Gatekeeping
X. Rights at the Border
XI. Behind Closed Doors
XII. Doors Towards Metaphysical Voyages
4. Confronting Inhospitable Spaces and Hostile Hosts
I. Storms, Floods and the Purging of Unwanted Civilisations
II. The Romantic Refugee
III. Mary and Percy Shelley: Feminist and Atheist
IV. Refugees in a Time of Climate Change
A. Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein and His Monster: Climate Refugees
B. Percy Shelley's Perspective on Climate and Geomorphology
C. Lord Byron: Catastrophism, Climate Change and Ensuing Darkness
V. From Creation of the Earth to Apocalypse
VI. Being Misled into the Wrong Paradise
VII. Finding Revelation Instead of Refuge
VIII. From Persecution to Punishment
IX. Chance Encounters
X. Finding Hell
XI. Transformation into Darkness
5. Encounters with Aliens, Monsters and Terrorists
I. Monsters in the Great Tradition
II. Insidious Monsters in the (Real) World
III. First Encounters
IV. The Monstrous Unfamiliar
V. A Refugee Amongst Refugees
VI. Confronting Your Neighbour: The Monster
VII. Identifying the Monsters, then Living with Them
Conclusion: From Persecution to Wonderland
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, Classics, Literature, International Law, Border Studies, and 14 moreRefugee Studies, Immigration, Migration, Immigration Law, Literary Canon, Law and Literature, Forced Migration, Migration Studies, Literature and Law, History of Migration, English language and literature, Borders and Frontiers, Refugee Law, and Vulnerable Populations
Sunbury Press (2016) A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired... more
Sunbury Press (2016) A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects his restaurant in the shape of a Fabergé egg, modeled after those remarkable masterpieces that were offered each year by the Czar to his beloved wife in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Fabergé Restaurant becomes 'the' destination for the wealthiest of NYC clients, but it's also the place where a plan is Hatched by three former college roommates to counterfeit billions of dollars and shake the United States economy to its very yolk. A rollicking novel filled with intrigue, passion and voluptuous egg recipes, Hatched is a sumptuous treat.
Research Interests:
Routledge Press (2016) This book addresses the challenges confronting undocumented immigrants and those charged with regulating their actions. Focusing on the personal narratives of undocumented people, it pursues an interdisciplinary and... more
Routledge Press (2016) This book addresses the challenges confronting undocumented immigrants and those charged with regulating their actions. Focusing on the personal narratives of undocumented people, it pursues an interdisciplinary and language-based approach to the study of how undocumented immigrants experience border-crossing. The important distance between lived experience and the ability to represent it is a central issue in border studies – but it is one that can be missed if the focus is upon, for example, borders and security, or borders and technology, or borders and judicial rights. Addressing the translation and interpretation of personal narratives in a fickle, shifting and often defiant legal context, Robert Barsky elicits the often arbitrary and ever-shifting combination of laws, regulations and rules that contribute to a sense amongst immigrants themselves that the legal context is absurd, untenable, unpredictable, changeable, and even illusory or "fictional". Drawing on a broad array of academic studies – including interpretation and translation studies, border studies, law, human rights, communication, critical discourse analysis, sociology and Latin American studies – he thus demonstrates the inherent limits of a system of ‘immigration control’ that, he argues, needs to be radically reconsidered if its current injustices are to be avoided. See review at: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2016/01/book-review
Research Interests:
The MIT Press (2011) In 1995, Robert Barsky met with Noam Chomsky to discuss his work-in-progress, Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent (MIT Press, 1997). Chomsky told Barsky that he should focus his attention instead on midcentury linguist... more
The MIT Press (2011) In 1995, Robert Barsky met with Noam Chomsky to discuss his work-in-progress, Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent (MIT Press, 1997). Chomsky told Barsky that he should focus his attention instead on midcentury linguist and activist Zellig Harris, who was, Chomsky modestly insisted, more interesting than Chomsky himself. Intrigued, Barsky began to research Harris (1909–1992) and discovered the story of a major figure in American intellectual life "sitting in a corner in the middle of the room"—part of crucial twentieth-century conversations about language, technology, labor, politics, and Zionism. The intersecting worlds of Harris’s intellectual and political activities were populated by such figures as Louis Brandeis, Albert Einstein, Franz Boas, Nathan Glazer, and Chomsky.
Barsky describes Harris’s work in language studies, and his pioneering ideas about discourse analysis, structural linguistics, and information representation. He also discusses Harris’s part in the pre-1948 Zionist movement—when many Jews on the Left envisioned a socialist Palestine that would be a haven not only for persecuted Jews but also for disenfranchised Arabs and anyone seeking a sanctuary against oppression—and recounts Harris's debates on the subject with Brandeis, Einstein, and a large group of students involved with a Zionist organization called Avukah. And Barsky describes Harris’s views on capitalism, worker-owner relations, and worker self-management, the legacy of which can be found in some of his students’ writings, notably those of Seymour Melman. Barsky shows how Harris, as mentor, teacher, and colleague, powerfully influenced figures who came to dominate the twentieth century's political discussion—; thinkers as different as Noam Chomsky and Nathan Glazer.
Barsky describes Harris’s work in language studies, and his pioneering ideas about discourse analysis, structural linguistics, and information representation. He also discusses Harris’s part in the pre-1948 Zionist movement—when many Jews on the Left envisioned a socialist Palestine that would be a haven not only for persecuted Jews but also for disenfranchised Arabs and anyone seeking a sanctuary against oppression—and recounts Harris's debates on the subject with Brandeis, Einstein, and a large group of students involved with a Zionist organization called Avukah. And Barsky describes Harris’s views on capitalism, worker-owner relations, and worker self-management, the legacy of which can be found in some of his students’ writings, notably those of Seymour Melman. Barsky shows how Harris, as mentor, teacher, and colleague, powerfully influenced figures who came to dominate the twentieth century's political discussion—; thinkers as different as Noam Chomsky and Nathan Glazer.
Research Interests:
The MIT Press (2007) Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chávez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter—voted “most important public... more
The MIT Press (2007) Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chávez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter—voted “most important public intellectual in the world today” in a 2005 magazine poll—Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation. In The Chomsky Effect, Chomsky biographer Robert Barsky examines Chomsky's positions on a number of highly charged issues—Chomsky's signature issues, including Vietnam, Israel, East Timor, and his work in linguistics—-that illustrate not only “the Chomsky effect” but also “the Chomsky approach.”
Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged—to be “dangerous” and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as “the Chomsky effect.” Barsky discusses Chomsky's work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics, and identifies Chomsky's intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics, and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky's popular appeal—his unlikely status as a punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)—and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky's roles in the “Faurisson Affair” and the “Pol Pot Affair.” Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many—and what he may mean to generations to come.
Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged—to be “dangerous” and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as “the Chomsky effect.” Barsky discusses Chomsky's work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics, and identifies Chomsky's intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics, and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky's popular appeal—his unlikely status as a punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)—and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky's roles in the “Faurisson Affair” and the “Pol Pot Affair.” Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many—and what he may mean to generations to come.
Research Interests:
The MIT Press (1997, 1998) This biography describes the intellectual and political milieus that helped shape Noam Chomsky, a pivotal figure in contemporary linguistics, politics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy. It also presents an... more
The MIT Press (1997, 1998) This biography describes the intellectual and political milieus that helped shape Noam Chomsky, a pivotal figure in contemporary linguistics, politics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy. It also presents an engaging political history of the last several decades, including such events as the Spanish Civil War, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the march on the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. The book highlights Chomsky's views on the uses and misuses of the university as an institution, his assessment of useful political engagement, and his doubts about postmodernism. Because Chomsky is given ample space to articulate his views on many of the major issues relating to his work, both linguistic and political, this book reads like the autobiography that Chomsky says he will never write.
Barsky's account reveals the remarkable consistency in Chomsky's interests and principles over the course of his life. The book contains well-placed excerpts from Chomsky's published writings and unpublished correspondence, including the author's own years-long correspondence with Chomsky.
Barsky's account reveals the remarkable consistency in Chomsky's interests and principles over the course of his life. The book contains well-placed excerpts from Chomsky's published writings and unpublished correspondence, including the author's own years-long correspondence with Chomsky.
Research Interests:
Ashgate/Routledge Press (2001, 2020) This is the first book of its kind to address the crucial issue of why people choose to make Convention refugee claims. It represents a substantial and original contribution primarily to the field of... more
Ashgate/Routledge Press (2001, 2020) This is the first book of its kind to address the crucial issue of why people choose to make Convention refugee claims. It represents a substantial and original contribution primarily to the field of refugee studies but also applicable for a broader readership of political science, international studies, sociology, law, history and women’s studies. Furthermore, it theorizes the problems that face refugees by discussing the perception of the possible host countries. The conclusions of the book bear directly upon contemporary issues in refugee studies that suggest refugees move on the basis of (generally) extreme levels of persecution.
Research Interests:
Presses de l'UQAM (1997) Le premier ouvrage en langue française à faire un tour d’horizon exhaustif des différentes théories littéraires, des linguistes réputés et de la petite histoire de ces grands courants. La facture originale de cet... more
Presses de l'UQAM (1997) Le premier ouvrage en langue française à faire un tour d’horizon exhaustif des différentes théories littéraires, des linguistes réputés et de la petite histoire de ces grands courants. La facture originale de cet ouvrage permettra au lecteur de se familiariser rapidement avec le formalisme, le dialogisme, le marxisme, le New Criticism, le structuralisme et la sémiotique, la narratologie, les théories de la réception, la psychocritique, la déconstruction, la sociocritique, le féminisme et les nouvelles tendances en théories littéraires. Chaque théorie est décrite et replacée dans son contexte sociohistorique. L’ouvrage est également agrémenté de passages anecdotiques, d’illustrations, d’un glossaire et d’un index. Marc Angenot a écrit la préface et, avec Michel Pierssens, a agi en qualité de lecteur expert.
Research Interests:
John Benjamins (1994) This book is a description of the process of constructing a productive Other for the purpose of being admitted to Canada as a Convention refugee. The whole claiming procedure is analyzed with respect to two actual... more
John Benjamins (1994) This book is a description of the process of constructing a productive Other for the purpose of being admitted to Canada as a Convention refugee. The whole claiming procedure is analyzed with respect to two actual cases, and contextualized by reference to pertinent national and international jurisprudence. Since legal analysis is deemed insufficient for a complete understanding of the argumentative and discursive strategies involved in the claiming and "authoring" processes, the author makes constant reference to methodologies from the realm of literary studies, discourse analysis and interaction theory, with special emphasis upon the works of Marc Angenot, M.M. Bakhtin, Pierre Bourdieu, Erving Goffman, Jürgen Habermas and Teun van Dijk. In so doing, he illustrates a reductive movement that inevitably occurs in legal argumentation which results in the displacement the subject from the realm of "refugee claimant" to that of claimant as "diminished Other."
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments... 9
Introduction: The Construction of the Other... 1
The Chronotope for the Convention Refugee Hearing... 17
Interpreting and Transcribing the Other... 37
The Opening Section: The Discursive Paradigm... 65
The Middle Section: The Life Story... 117
The Closing Section: The un-Dialogic Other... 167
The Implicit and Explicit Criteria for Rendering the Decision: The Woman as Wtiness and the Appeal Case... 203
Conclusion: The Destruction of the Self... 241
Notes... 247
Cases Cited... 253
Bibliography... 257
Index... 271
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments... 9
Introduction: The Construction of the Other... 1
The Chronotope for the Convention Refugee Hearing... 17
Interpreting and Transcribing the Other... 37
The Opening Section: The Discursive Paradigm... 65
The Middle Section: The Life Story... 117
The Closing Section: The un-Dialogic Other... 167
The Implicit and Explicit Criteria for Rendering the Decision: The Woman as Wtiness and the Appeal Case... 203
Conclusion: The Destruction of the Self... 241
Notes... 247
Cases Cited... 253
Bibliography... 257
Index... 271
Research Interests:
Editor’s Introduction: Dr. Robert Barsky is a professor of humanities and law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville who nevertheless still lives in a home on the BeltLine near Piedmont Park — such is his love for Atlanta. His epic poem,... more
Editor’s Introduction: Dr. Robert Barsky is a professor of humanities and law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville who nevertheless still lives in a home on the BeltLine near Piedmont Park — such is his love for Atlanta. His epic poem, The BeltLine Chronicles, was featured in the 2023 Art on the Atlanta BeltLine program and continues to support a full range of artistic programing, including public readings, filmic depictions, dance works and so on. The original poem was published both on placards along the BeltLine and online with artwork by Susan Ker-seymer and Lauren McKee. Barsky is a Guggenheim fellow, and an excerpt of the poem (Canto 2, stanza 18 ff.) appears with an introduction below.
Research Interests:
Editor’s introduction: Dr. Robert Barsky is a professor of humanities and law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. His epic poem, The BeltLine Chronicles, was featured in the 2023 Art on the Atlanta BeltLine program. ArtsATL published... more
Editor’s introduction: Dr. Robert Barsky is a professor of humanities and law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. His epic poem, The BeltLine Chronicles, was featured in the 2023 Art on the Atlanta BeltLine program. ArtsATL published the first excerpt here. Below is a second excerpt (Canto 4, stanza 1 and following), along with artwork by Susan Ker-seymer and Lauren McKee and an introduction by the poet. Barsky is a Guggenheim fellow.
Research Interests:
The BeltLine Chronicles is a 68 page poem that honors the living history of spaces all along the entire length of the Atlanta BeltLine. This poem draws inspiration from Lord Byron's epic adventure poem called "Don Juan", and invokes a... more
The BeltLine Chronicles is a 68 page poem that honors the living history of spaces all along the entire length of the Atlanta BeltLine. This poem draws inspiration from Lord Byron's epic adventure poem called "Don Juan", and invokes a broad array of famous literary quests, from Homer's The Odyssey and Dante the Pilgrim's Divine Comedy all the way up to Toni Morrison's Paradise and Salman Rushdie's Quichotte. For the purposes of the BeltLine Chronicles, the BeltLine is an integral space, composed of 8 subareas that are both autonomous and interconnected. The BeltLine Chronicles remind the reader/viewer of the many borders that we cross as we move through the BeltLine spaces, and the great efforts that have been made by Ryan Gravel and the multitude of funders, visionaries and developers who are bringing this dream to life. The narrator of the poem is an enthusiastic and sweet poet named "George", named after George Gordon, Lord Byron. He invokes histories associated with BeltLine spaces, and takes note of people he sees along his journey. He also describes existing art installations, performances by BeltLine artists (both formal and informal), and emotions stirred by the amazing BeltLine environment. Along the way, George calls attention to issues of social justice and historical memory, while advocating for a more just future inspired by the ambitions associated with Atlanta's "emerald necklace". To that end, George recalls inspiring writings and utterances by the likes of Frederick Law Olmsted , W.
Research Interests:
At the heart of Contours Collaborations is the idea that artistic and humanistic representations can raise awareness, engender questions, and provoke reflection about border crossing beyond the cacophony of current policy debates. By... more
At the heart of Contours Collaborations is the idea that artistic and humanistic representations can raise awareness, engender questions, and provoke reflection about border crossing beyond the cacophony of current policy debates.
By looking into the creative imaginaries of political, cultural, and physical boundaries, this new initiative will help shift attitudes, and shape geographic imaginations, through such forces as empathy, association, and a sense of shared experiences.
Contours Collaborations aims to go beyond policy briefs, knowledge syntheses, and scoping reviews relating to the flight and plight of displaced persons by engaging, through art and interactive aesthetic experiences, with deeply-held attitudes about borders.
The Contours Collaborations group is made up of internationally-renowned artists, scholars, activists, and community organizations, connected through a Board of Consultants and a Board of Editors, and exhibited on a ground-breaking digital space.
Contours Collaborations is supported by the SSHRC Canada Research Chair Program (Robert Barsky, CRC: Law, Narrative and Border Crossing), Vanderbilt University, and by members of MIT’s Knowledge Futures group. Contours works in Collaboration with each contributor to develop state-of-the-art online digitized artistic exhibit and performance spaces. These spaces, tailored for each submission, will provide artists and participants with a unique ways of representing, and interacting with, artistic works pertaining to border crossing. This innovative process of creation and dissemination will be developed for online open access use by Contours Collaborations and then, consistent with the Knowledge Future’s mandate, they will be made available via open access on PubPub for future users.
The new PubPub space will have the capacity for expanded reader, and even author, engagement on PubPub. Audiences will be able to respond to and engage in conversations with the texts, and those writing/reading them. This feature eliminates conventional borders of publishing with respect to roles and the actual borders of a page, it's margins, its gutters. For instance, the PubPub site can embed a reader's comment into the narrative of an article, just like you would an image or video, creating a work that is in constant movement, dialogue and interaction. The same applies to the exhibition space, if the artist so desires.
By looking into the creative imaginaries of political, cultural, and physical boundaries, this new initiative will help shift attitudes, and shape geographic imaginations, through such forces as empathy, association, and a sense of shared experiences.
Contours Collaborations aims to go beyond policy briefs, knowledge syntheses, and scoping reviews relating to the flight and plight of displaced persons by engaging, through art and interactive aesthetic experiences, with deeply-held attitudes about borders.
The Contours Collaborations group is made up of internationally-renowned artists, scholars, activists, and community organizations, connected through a Board of Consultants and a Board of Editors, and exhibited on a ground-breaking digital space.
Contours Collaborations is supported by the SSHRC Canada Research Chair Program (Robert Barsky, CRC: Law, Narrative and Border Crossing), Vanderbilt University, and by members of MIT’s Knowledge Futures group. Contours works in Collaboration with each contributor to develop state-of-the-art online digitized artistic exhibit and performance spaces. These spaces, tailored for each submission, will provide artists and participants with a unique ways of representing, and interacting with, artistic works pertaining to border crossing. This innovative process of creation and dissemination will be developed for online open access use by Contours Collaborations and then, consistent with the Knowledge Future’s mandate, they will be made available via open access on PubPub for future users.
The new PubPub space will have the capacity for expanded reader, and even author, engagement on PubPub. Audiences will be able to respond to and engage in conversations with the texts, and those writing/reading them. This feature eliminates conventional borders of publishing with respect to roles and the actual borders of a page, it's margins, its gutters. For instance, the PubPub site can embed a reader's comment into the narrative of an article, just like you would an image or video, creating a work that is in constant movement, dialogue and interaction. The same applies to the exhibition space, if the artist so desires.
Research Interests:
Penn State Press (2000) The subject of the passions has always haunted Western philosophy and, more often than not, aroused harsh judgments. For the passions represent a force of excess and lawlessness in humanity that produces troubling,... more
Penn State Press (2000) The subject of the passions has always haunted Western philosophy and, more often than not, aroused harsh judgments. For the passions represent a force of excess and lawlessness in humanity that produces troubling, confusing paradoxes. Michel Meyer provides new insight into an age-old dilemma: Does passion torture people because it blinds them, or, on the contrary, does it permit them to apprehend who and what we really are?
Research Interests:
Orient BlackSwan (2009) Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chavez and attacked by the likes of Ton Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Ground-breaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter-voted “most important public... more
Orient BlackSwan (2009) Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chavez and attacked by the likes of Ton Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Ground-breaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter-voted “most important public intellectual in the world today” in a 2005 magazine poll-Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation. In The Chomsky effect, Chomsky biographer Robert Barsky examines his subject’s positions on a number of highly charged issues-Chomsky’s signature issues, including Vietnam, Israel, East Timor, and his work in linguistics-that illustrate not only “the Chomsky effect” but also “the Chomsky approach.”
Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged---to be “dangerous” and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as “the Chomsky effect”. Barsky discusses Chomsky’s work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics and identifies Chomsky’s intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky’s popular appeal---his unlikely status as punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)---and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky’s roles in the “Faurisson Affair” and the “Pol Pot Affair.” Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many and what he may mean to generations to come.
Chomsky, writes Barsky, is an inspiration and a catalyst. Not just an analyst or advocate, he encourages people to become engaged---to be “dangerous” and challenge power and privilege. The actions and reactions of Chomsky supporters and detractors and the attending contentiousness can be thought of as “the Chomsky effect”. Barsky discusses Chomsky’s work in such areas as language studies, media, education, law, and politics and identifies Chomsky’s intellectual and political precursors. He charts anti-Chomsky sentiments as expressed from various standpoints, including contemporary Zionism, mainstream politics and scholarly communities. He discusses Chomsky’s popular appeal---his unlikely status as punk and rock hero (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is one of many rock and roll Chomskyites)---and offers in-depth analyses of the controversies surrounding Chomsky’s roles in the “Faurisson Affair” and the “Pol Pot Affair.” Finally, Barsky considers the role of the public intellectual in order to assess why Noam Chomsky has come to mean so much to so many and what he may mean to generations to come.
Research Interests:
Мека корица (2010) Тази биография описва интелектуалните и политически среди, които повлияват формирането на Ноам Чомски, централна фигура в съвременната лингвистика, политика, когнитивна психология и философия. Тя представя и една... more
Мека корица (2010) Тази биография описва интелектуалните и политически среди, които повлияват формирането на Ноам Чомски, централна фигура в съвременната лингвистика, политика, когнитивна психология и философия. Тя представя и една интересна политическа история на последните няколко десетилетия, включително събития като Испанската гражданска война, пускането на атомните бомби над Хирошима и Нагазаки и Похода срещу Пентагона. Книгата прави преглед на лингвистични постижения, на схващанията на Чомски за правилното и неправилно използване на университета като институция, оценката му за някои полезни политически ангажименти и неговите съмнения относно постмодернизма. Барски убедително показва, че независимостта на ума, свободата на духа и страстната воля за преодоляване на социалната несправедливост са определящите характеристики на пълноценния живот на Чомски, посветен на борба за по-добър свят. Той хвърля светлина върху мисълта и действията на „несъмнено най-важния жив интелектуалец” на епохата. С богатството на автентична информация (много снимки, кореспонденция, включително с автора, цитати от Чомски), тя може да се разглежда и като автобиография, каквато според Чомски той самият никога не би написал.”
Research Interests:
Sidae Books (2009) 체제에 대한 저항 상아탑 안팎에서의 촘스키 이펙트 록음악에 영감을 준 촘스키 | 반체제 영화의 주인공 | 학계에서의 인기 CHAPTER 02 - 촘스키 이펙트에 대한 저항 그리고 비방 학문적 동료들 | 비방의 말 퍼트리기 | 촘스키 깎아내리기 | 프랑스 지식인의 저항 | 표면화한 증오 | 포리송 사건 | 표현 자유의 권리에 대한 몇 가지 기본적인 논평 | 프랑스 지식인 사회에 대한... more
Sidae Books (2009) 체제에 대한 저항
상아탑 안팎에서의 촘스키 이펙트
록음악에 영감을 준 촘스키 | 반체제 영화의 주인공 | 학계에서의 인기
CHAPTER 02 - 촘스키 이펙트에 대한 저항 그리고 비방
학문적 동료들 | 비방의 말 퍼트리기 | 촘스키 깎아내리기 | 프랑스 지식인의 저항 | 표면화한 증오 | 포리송 사건 | 표현 자유의 권리에 대한 몇 가지 기본적인 논평 | 프랑스 지식인 사회에 대한 촘스키의 생각 | ‘포리송은 일종의 몰정치적 자유주의자’ | 촘스키의 답변을 게재하지 않은 프랑스 언론 | 미디어를 넘어서 | 폴포트 사건
CHAPTER 03 - 촘스키 사상의 선구자들: 아나키스트, 데카르트 학파, 자유주의자, 급진 좌파
스코틀랜드 계몽사상 | 상식과 공동선 | 미국의 고전자유주의 | 데카르트 학파 사상가들 | 빌헬름 폰 훔볼트와 ‘국가행동의 제한’ | 자기 혼자 있을 수 있는 권리 | 자유와 가능성의 씨앗을 키우기 | 테러와 보안 그리고 과도한 국가 조치 | 사랑과 신앙 그리고 이성 | 루돌프 로커, ‘아나키스트 랍비’ | 언어와 그 이전에 존재하는 지식 | 자유주의 | 아나키즘 | 인공지능과 행동주의 이론 | 왜 마르크시즘이 아닌가 | 젤리그 해리스 | 젤리그 해리스의 영향
PART 02 구체적인 문제들
CHAPTER 04 - 정의로운 효과: 법률, 윤리, 인권에 대한 촘스키의 생각
합리적 과거에 호소함으로써 위선에 맞서기 | 권위에 대한 미국식 저항 | 법률의 합리적 권위와 도덕적 권위 | 자연법과 실정법 | 법치와 법률의 예외 | 자유와 책임
CHAPTER 05 - 효과적인 교육: 촉매 역할과 석좌교수
촉매 역할을 하는 교육 | 권위에 저항하는 교육 | 사회변화의 산파 | 사상 전파의 방법론 | 교육자 촘스키 | 복종의 연구 | 교육과 직장 | 서머힐 | 교육과학: 마인드 프로젝트
CHAPTER 06 - 촘스키 이펙트 방해하기: 미디어, 프로파간다, 포스트모던 언어연구
촘스키와 컴퓨터 과학 | 미디어와 프로파간다 | 언어연구에서 포스트모던 언어연구로 | 포스트모던 어프로치에 대한 저항 | 소칼의 사기극과 포스트모더니티 | 언어연구와 아나키
CHAPTER 07 - 문학, 유머, 창조적 담론의 효과
언어의 ‘창조적’ 사용 | 깊이 있는 설명의 원칙 | 받아들일 수 있는 담론 | 문학적 영감을 주는 촘스키 | 진짜 오프 브로드웨이 연극 | 노엄 촘스키의 데이비드 레터맨식 유머 | 유토피아와 웃음
CHAPTER 08 - 효과적인 ‘대중’ 지식인
분간과 ‘문화비평’ | 행동을 위한 동기 | 새로운 만다린 | 실제 현실 | 정신적 구명부대 | 현대의 관심사 | 시무어 멜만 어프로치 | 급진적 지식인으로서 발언하기 | 세계에서 가장 중요한 대중 지식인
옮긴이의 글 | 참고문헌 | 찾아보기 | 부록
상아탑 안팎에서의 촘스키 이펙트
록음악에 영감을 준 촘스키 | 반체제 영화의 주인공 | 학계에서의 인기
CHAPTER 02 - 촘스키 이펙트에 대한 저항 그리고 비방
학문적 동료들 | 비방의 말 퍼트리기 | 촘스키 깎아내리기 | 프랑스 지식인의 저항 | 표면화한 증오 | 포리송 사건 | 표현 자유의 권리에 대한 몇 가지 기본적인 논평 | 프랑스 지식인 사회에 대한 촘스키의 생각 | ‘포리송은 일종의 몰정치적 자유주의자’ | 촘스키의 답변을 게재하지 않은 프랑스 언론 | 미디어를 넘어서 | 폴포트 사건
CHAPTER 03 - 촘스키 사상의 선구자들: 아나키스트, 데카르트 학파, 자유주의자, 급진 좌파
스코틀랜드 계몽사상 | 상식과 공동선 | 미국의 고전자유주의 | 데카르트 학파 사상가들 | 빌헬름 폰 훔볼트와 ‘국가행동의 제한’ | 자기 혼자 있을 수 있는 권리 | 자유와 가능성의 씨앗을 키우기 | 테러와 보안 그리고 과도한 국가 조치 | 사랑과 신앙 그리고 이성 | 루돌프 로커, ‘아나키스트 랍비’ | 언어와 그 이전에 존재하는 지식 | 자유주의 | 아나키즘 | 인공지능과 행동주의 이론 | 왜 마르크시즘이 아닌가 | 젤리그 해리스 | 젤리그 해리스의 영향
PART 02 구체적인 문제들
CHAPTER 04 - 정의로운 효과: 법률, 윤리, 인권에 대한 촘스키의 생각
합리적 과거에 호소함으로써 위선에 맞서기 | 권위에 대한 미국식 저항 | 법률의 합리적 권위와 도덕적 권위 | 자연법과 실정법 | 법치와 법률의 예외 | 자유와 책임
CHAPTER 05 - 효과적인 교육: 촉매 역할과 석좌교수
촉매 역할을 하는 교육 | 권위에 저항하는 교육 | 사회변화의 산파 | 사상 전파의 방법론 | 교육자 촘스키 | 복종의 연구 | 교육과 직장 | 서머힐 | 교육과학: 마인드 프로젝트
CHAPTER 06 - 촘스키 이펙트 방해하기: 미디어, 프로파간다, 포스트모던 언어연구
촘스키와 컴퓨터 과학 | 미디어와 프로파간다 | 언어연구에서 포스트모던 언어연구로 | 포스트모던 어프로치에 대한 저항 | 소칼의 사기극과 포스트모더니티 | 언어연구와 아나키
CHAPTER 07 - 문학, 유머, 창조적 담론의 효과
언어의 ‘창조적’ 사용 | 깊이 있는 설명의 원칙 | 받아들일 수 있는 담론 | 문학적 영감을 주는 촘스키 | 진짜 오프 브로드웨이 연극 | 노엄 촘스키의 데이비드 레터맨식 유머 | 유토피아와 웃음
CHAPTER 08 - 효과적인 ‘대중’ 지식인
분간과 ‘문화비평’ | 행동을 위한 동기 | 새로운 만다린 | 실제 현실 | 정신적 구명부대 | 현대의 관심사 | 시무어 멜만 어프로치 | 급진적 지식인으로서 발언하기 | 세계에서 가장 중요한 대중 지식인
옮긴이의 글 | 참고문헌 | 찾아보기 | 부록
Conrad (2010) 'Noam Chomsky - A vida de um dissidente' investiga a versatilidade e a inquietude do pensador mais controvertido das últimas décadas. Por meio de extensas entrevistas, capta o ambiente intelectual e político que influenciou... more
Conrad (2010) 'Noam Chomsky - A vida de um dissidente' investiga a versatilidade e a inquietude do pensador mais controvertido das últimas décadas. Por meio de extensas entrevistas, capta o ambiente intelectual e político que influenciou suas idéias, revelando aspectos inesperados da Guerra Civil Espanhola, das ações do Pentágono, do lançamento das bombas atômicas em Hiroshima e Nagasaki, além de outros eventos históricos. Noam Chomsky é considerado um crítico implacável da grande imprensa. Pai da lingüística moderna, seus textos são estudados por filósofos e até neurologistas. Ao longo de mais de 50 anos de atividades, ele vem revolucionando e influenciando várias áreas do conhecimento - da lingüística à política, da mídia à economia...
Research Interests:
Kiwako Tsuchiya (1998) 初版 カバー 帯付 美品
20世紀の言語学に革命をもたらしたチョムスキーは、ベトナム以降のアメリカの言論、政治評論における異端児であるだけでなく、行動的な政治的活動家でもある。この二つの側面はどのように結びついているのかを探る。
20世紀の言語学に革命をもたらしたチョムスキーは、ベトナム以降のアメリカの言論、政治評論における異端児であるだけでなく、行動的な政治的活動家でもある。この二つの側面はどのように結びついているのかを探る。
Research Interests:
Тази биография описва интелектуалните и политически среди, които повлияват формирането на Ноам Чомски, централна фигура в съвременната лингвистика, политика, когнитивна психология и философия. Тя представя и една интересна политическа... more
Тази биография описва интелектуалните и политически среди, които повлияват формирането на Ноам Чомски, централна фигура в съвременната лингвистика, политика, когнитивна психология и философия. Тя представя и една интересна политическа история на последните няколко десетилетия, включително събития като Испанската гражданска война, пускането на атомните бомби над Хирошима и Нагазаки и Похода срещу Пентагона. Книгата прави преглед на лингвистични постижения, на схващанията на Чомски за правилното и неправилно използване на университета като институция, оценката му за някои полезни политически ангажименти и неговите съмнения относно постмодернизма. Барски убедително показва, че независимостта на ума, свободата на духа и страстната воля за преодоляване на социалната несправедливост са определящите характеристики на пълноценния живот на Чомски, посветен на борба за по-добър свят. Той хвърля светлина върху мисълта и действията на „несъмнено най-важния жив интелектуалец” на епохата. С богатството на автентична информация (много снимки, кореспонденция, включително с автора, цитати от Чомски), тя може да се разглежда и като автобиография, каквато според Чомски той самият никога не би написал.”
„Става ясно, че Чомски е заплаха и извор на притеснение за мнозина: той е евреин, който пледира за демократична държава в Израел (вместо за „Суверенната държава на еврейския народ”); той е ционист, който предлага постепенно преминаване към двунационализъм; той е интелектуалец, който разкрива тайни споразумения между правителства и интелектуални елити; той е лингвист, който се прицелва в ценените теории на негови уважавани колеги лингвисти, философи, психолози и историци; той е учен, който провежда политически анализ и разобличава като измама повече от работите на политическите изследователи; и най-вече, той е един привилегирован американец, който поставя под въпрос това, което се смята за фундаментални американски ценности, като отбелязва, че основните права, дори тези, залегнали в американската конституция, преднамерено се потъпкват от избраните да ги поддържат, защото не обслужват интересите на управляващите елити.” Р. Барски
„Става ясно, че Чомски е заплаха и извор на притеснение за мнозина: той е евреин, който пледира за демократична държава в Израел (вместо за „Суверенната държава на еврейския народ”); той е ционист, който предлага постепенно преминаване към двунационализъм; той е интелектуалец, който разкрива тайни споразумения между правителства и интелектуални елити; той е лингвист, който се прицелва в ценените теории на негови уважавани колеги лингвисти, философи, психолози и историци; той е учен, който провежда политически анализ и разобличава като измама повече от работите на политическите изследователи; и най-вече, той е един привилегирован американец, който поставя под въпрос това, което се смята за фундаментални американски ценности, като отбелязва, че основните права, дори тези, залегнали в американската конституция, преднамерено се потъпкват от избраните да ги поддържат, защото не обслужват интересите на управляващите елити.” Р. Барски
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Editions 8 (1999) Noam Chomsky hat seit den 60er-Jahren unsere Vorstellungen über Sprache und Denken revolutioniert. Zugleich ist er einer der schärfsten Kritiker der gegenwärtigen Weltordnung und des US-Imperialismus. Er ist als „der... more
Editions 8 (1999) Noam Chomsky hat seit den 60er-Jahren unsere Vorstellungen über Sprache und Denken revolutioniert. Zugleich ist er einer der schärfsten Kritiker der gegenwärtigen Weltordnung und des US-Imperialismus. Er ist als „der einflussreichste westliche Intellektuelle“ und als „der bekannteste Dissident der Welt“ bezeichnet worden. Die vorliegende Studie „Noam Chomsky. Libertärer Querdenker“ entwirft das Bild eines Mannes, der unermüdlich nach wissenschaftlichem Fortschritt und sozialer Gerechtigkeit strebt.
Diese erste Biografie macht bisher unbekannte Materialien über Chomskys intellektuelle Herkunft zugänglich: Seine Beziehung zum Judentum, die Bezugnahme auf einen libertären Anarchismus sowie Konzepte der gesellschaftlichen Selbstverwaltung. Sie analysiert Chomsky in den Kämpfen seiner Zeit, dokumentiert Anfeindungen und Zensurversuche, zeigt den Aktivisten in der Zusammenarbeit mit Massenbewegungen und nennt eine Vielzahl seiner Mitstreiterinnen und Mitstreiter. Diskutiert wird das Verhältnis von wissenschaftlicher und politischer Arbeit und Chomskys Theorien zugrunde liegende rationalistische Weltsicht. Zur Sprache kommen auch kontroverse Auseinandersetzungen mit der Postmoderne oder die Affäre Faurisson, in der Chomsky vorgeworfen wurde, er habe sich von Auschwitz-Lügnern instrumentalisieren lassen.
Aufbauend auf einem ausführlichen Briefwechsel zwischen Autor Robert F. Barsky und Chomsky enthält die Biografie zahlreiche Originalzitate, die Chomskys durchdringende Kritik, erfrischende Klarheit und trockenen Humor veranschaulichen. So entsteht ein faszinierendes Charakterporträt inmitten verschiedener intellektueller und politischer Milieus. Nicht zuletzt ermutigt das Buch zum Widerstand gegen alle autoritären und repressiven Verhältnisse.
Diese erste Biografie macht bisher unbekannte Materialien über Chomskys intellektuelle Herkunft zugänglich: Seine Beziehung zum Judentum, die Bezugnahme auf einen libertären Anarchismus sowie Konzepte der gesellschaftlichen Selbstverwaltung. Sie analysiert Chomsky in den Kämpfen seiner Zeit, dokumentiert Anfeindungen und Zensurversuche, zeigt den Aktivisten in der Zusammenarbeit mit Massenbewegungen und nennt eine Vielzahl seiner Mitstreiterinnen und Mitstreiter. Diskutiert wird das Verhältnis von wissenschaftlicher und politischer Arbeit und Chomskys Theorien zugrunde liegende rationalistische Weltsicht. Zur Sprache kommen auch kontroverse Auseinandersetzungen mit der Postmoderne oder die Affäre Faurisson, in der Chomsky vorgeworfen wurde, er habe sich von Auschwitz-Lügnern instrumentalisieren lassen.
Aufbauend auf einem ausführlichen Briefwechsel zwischen Autor Robert F. Barsky und Chomsky enthält die Biografie zahlreiche Originalzitate, die Chomskys durchdringende Kritik, erfrischende Klarheit und trockenen Humor veranschaulichen. So entsteht ein faszinierendes Charakterporträt inmitten verschiedener intellektueller und politischer Milieus. Nicht zuletzt ermutigt das Buch zum Widerstand gegen alle autoritären und repressiven Verhältnisse.
Research Interests:
DataNews (2004) Biografia dell'intellettuale americano nella quale vengono analizzate le sue opere e le sue lotte, da quella contro la guerra in Vietnam alle lotte per i diritti civili in America, fino alla mobilitazione per la pace e al... more
DataNews (2004) Biografia dell'intellettuale americano nella quale vengono analizzate le sue opere e le sue lotte, da quella contro la guerra in Vietnam alle lotte per i diritti civili in America, fino alla mobilitazione per la pace e al sostegno per i diritti del popolo palestinese.
Research Interests:
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el... more
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el título de Noam Chomsky, una vida de discrepancia y con la traducción de Isabel González-Gallarza. El autor, Robert Barsky, que es profesor de lengua y literatura inglesa en la universidad canadiense de Ontario, ha escrito obras sobre crítica literaria. En la confección de esta biografía Barsky ha dedicado varios años de investigación, ha mantenido una nutrida correspondencia con Chomsky –que inició en 1991– y ha consultado archivos de diversas instituciones. El resultado es un texto que abarca las facetas del lingüista y del activista de izquierdas.
Research Interests:
Odile Jabob (1998) Noam Chomsky est l'un des plus grands linguistes de ce siècle : sa grammaire générative a renouvelé la discipline. Ses études sur l'apprentissage des langues par les enfants sont l'une des sources des sciences... more
Odile Jabob (1998) Noam Chomsky est l'un des plus grands linguistes de ce siècle : sa grammaire générative a renouvelé la discipline. Ses études sur l'apprentissage des langues par les enfants sont l'une des sources des sciences cognitives. C'est encore un intellectuel engagé dans le mouvement anarchiste. Cette biographie intellectuelle, issue d'une longue correspondance de l'auteur avec lui et des témoignages de contemporains, le fait apparaître comme un mélange détonnant d'élitisme universitaire et d'anarchisme libertaire.
Research Interests:
How George Orwell Paved Noam Chomsky’s Path to Anarchism
Robert Barsky examines the profound impact of Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" on Noam Chomsky's early embrace of left-libertarian and anarchist ideologies.
Robert Barsky examines the profound impact of Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" on Noam Chomsky's early embrace of left-libertarian and anarchist ideologies.
Research Interests:
The current catastrophes in the Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, and the ongoing calamities in Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Venezuela and elsewhere, all call out for a humanitarian approach to International Refugee Law (IRL). Rather... more
The current catastrophes in the Ukraine and the Gaza Strip,
and the ongoing calamities in Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Yemen, Iraq,
Venezuela and elsewhere, all call out for a humanitarian approach to
International Refugee Law (IRL). Rather than advancing towards this
objective, the international community finds itself at an impasse, in which
states act to enforce borders, repel potential asylum seekers, deny
requisite visa and travel documents, and punish intermediaries. As a
consequence, there are 35,000,000 people who have fled persecution in
their country of origin in search of protection, and are currently in the
limbo of refugee camps and border spaces, facing uncertain futures in
potential host countries. This tragedy could be overcome if states would
abide by the tenets of International Refugee Law (IRL) and, for those
claimants who meet the conditions set forth by refugee treaties, provide
a pathway towards protection and integration. In this article, I will offer a
reading of Mikhaïl Mikhailovich Bakhtin’s work as a means of crafting an
approach to understanding and applying the tenets of IRL, and in so
doing make a contribution to the overlap between law and humanities.
and the ongoing calamities in Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Yemen, Iraq,
Venezuela and elsewhere, all call out for a humanitarian approach to
International Refugee Law (IRL). Rather than advancing towards this
objective, the international community finds itself at an impasse, in which
states act to enforce borders, repel potential asylum seekers, deny
requisite visa and travel documents, and punish intermediaries. As a
consequence, there are 35,000,000 people who have fled persecution in
their country of origin in search of protection, and are currently in the
limbo of refugee camps and border spaces, facing uncertain futures in
potential host countries. This tragedy could be overcome if states would
abide by the tenets of International Refugee Law (IRL) and, for those
claimants who meet the conditions set forth by refugee treaties, provide
a pathway towards protection and integration. In this article, I will offer a
reading of Mikhaïl Mikhailovich Bakhtin’s work as a means of crafting an
approach to understanding and applying the tenets of IRL, and in so
doing make a contribution to the overlap between law and humanities.
Research Interests: International Law, Refugee Studies, Asylum Law, Bakhtin, European Immigration and Asylum Law, and 10 moreTreaty Law, International Refugee Law, Dialogism, Refugees, Mikhail Bakhtin, Borders and Frontiers, Refugees and Forced Migration Studies, UNHCR, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, and Bakhtin, M. ([1935]1981) ‘Discourse in the novel’, in The Dialogic Imagination: Four essays by M.M.Bakhtin, ed M. Holquist, trans. C. Emerson and M. Holquist. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
Mientras tanto, el resto del mundo observa sentado la guerra a través de las pantallas, lo que puede favorecer la empatía pero también causar impotencia y angustia. Hay otra forma de intentar comprender la experiencia de los refugiados.... more
Mientras tanto, el resto del mundo observa sentado la guerra a través de las pantallas, lo que puede favorecer la empatía pero también causar impotencia y angustia.
Hay otra forma de intentar comprender la experiencia de los refugiados. Junto a la realidad de la gente desesperada que huye del peligro hay una rica tradición de textos clásicos sobre personajes que buscan protección o una nueva vida.
Como profesor de humanidades y derecho, he pasado los últimos años profundizando en aquello que la literatura clásica cuenta sobre los retos de huir de las persecuciones. Desde Odiseo y Dante el Peregrino hasta el monstruo de Frankenstein, muchos personajes conocidos se enfrentan a obstáculos conocidos por los refugiados contemporáneos.
Hay otra forma de intentar comprender la experiencia de los refugiados. Junto a la realidad de la gente desesperada que huye del peligro hay una rica tradición de textos clásicos sobre personajes que buscan protección o una nueva vida.
Como profesor de humanidades y derecho, he pasado los últimos años profundizando en aquello que la literatura clásica cuenta sobre los retos de huir de las persecuciones. Desde Odiseo y Dante el Peregrino hasta el monstruo de Frankenstein, muchos personajes conocidos se enfrentan a obstáculos conocidos por los refugiados contemporáneos.
Research Interests:
As a professor of humanities and law, I have spent the past few years delving deeply into what classic literature has to say about the challenges of fleeing persecution. From Odysseus and Dante the Pilgrim to Frankenstein’s monster, many... more
As a professor of humanities and law, I have spent the past few years delving deeply into what classic literature has to say about the challenges of fleeing persecution. From Odysseus and Dante the Pilgrim to Frankenstein’s monster, many familiar characters encounter obstacles well known to contemporary refugees.
Research Interests:
Current challenges to the prevailing system of refugee adjudication, particularly in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), have compelled advocates, policymakers, and judges to step back and ask some fundamental questions... more
Current challenges to the prevailing system of refugee adjudication, particularly in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), have compelled advocates, policymakers, and judges to step back and ask some fundamental questions about the reach, scope, and resilience of international refugee law. This commentary contributes a new approach to answering these questions through an examination of the negotiation of a new refugee treaty that was designed to supplement, or replace, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.1 The Convention is the foundation of the post-Second World War international refugee system. It was initially confined to the protection of refugees displaced as a result of events prior to...
Research Interests: International Law, Refugee Studies, International Negotiation, United Nations, International Humanitarian Law, and 13 moreInternational Negotiations, Treaty Law, International Refugee Law, Refugees, Law of Treaties, Refugees and Forced Migration Studies, Refugee Law, Refugee and Migration Studies, UNHCR, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Refugees Issues, and Syrian Refugee Crisis
Thinking about viruses, dirt, and matter that is out of place can be connected to the issue of vulnerability, which is foremost on people’s minds during a pandemic, or in the course of an invasion. There is a fear, which can be literal or... more
Thinking about viruses, dirt, and matter that is out of place can be connected to the issue of vulnerability, which is foremost on people’s minds during a pandemic, or in the course of an invasion. There is a fear, which can be literal or metaphorical, that body or the body politic is vulnerable when borders, including the body’s own flesh (the border between inner organs and the outside world) is opened up. The image that is used to promote borders is that open flesh allows for the entrance of dirt, pollution, foreignness, and, of course, viruses. One of the great fears in the current Coronavirus pandemic is whether we are sufficiently protected from it, if our masks or gloves or borders are secure. Like obscene literature, or like things or people who are deemed “foreign,” the Coronavirus’s effects are all mysterious, and largely invisible, until they strike us to our core, sicken us, or kill us.
Research Interests:
Cambridge University Press has just published a fascinating new volume of essays about International Law and the Cold War, edited by Matthew Craven, Sundhya Pahuja, and Gerry Simpson. This volume covers a broad array of topics, including... more
Cambridge University Press has just published a fascinating new volume of essays about International Law and the Cold War, edited by Matthew Craven, Sundhya Pahuja, and Gerry Simpson. This volume covers a broad array of topics, including the crucial question of how Cold War politics affected or inspired new legal instruments. Tensions between ‘East’ and ‘West’ are in evidence in, for example, the negotiations leading up to the 1976 Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD), the Landmines Convention, the relations between parties in the so-called Division Space (two parallel worlds reflecting the Cold War fault lines), various instruments of international human rights law, as well as in other cultural, economic, sociological and historical instances that reflect a world divided into two complexly constituted sides. That international legal instruments would have been inspired or affected by the dynamics of the Cold War is unsurprising. But by focusing on legal aspects of the Cold War, this volume draws attention to the complex task that negotiators of any international legal instrument would have faced, in light of the political and social exigencies of the time. For example, any legal treaty, or efforts towards drafting one, would have had to account not only for legal precedents and objectives, but also the ‘effect’ of the eventual text on the allies, enemies, and those who could be swayed to join one side or another.
Research Interests:
In this blog, I will focus upon reservations that were being expressed by reluctant state officials from Latin America in regards to the new Protocol. Most state representatives from that region considered that the Convention was a... more
In this blog, I will focus upon reservations that were being expressed by reluctant state officials from Latin America in regards to the new Protocol. Most state representatives from that region considered that the Convention was a European treaty that could (or should) be superseded by regional agreements better suited to specific refugee circumstances. This view fed the fears, expressed by many UNHCR officials at the time, that negotiations towards the new treaty needed to move forward through low-key direct negotiations with interested parties, so as to generate a minimum of fanfare and dissension. There was a widespread fear amongst negotiators that opening-up a new refugee treaty for debate amongst states in the General Assembly, or through the kind of Conference of Plenipotentiaries that had produced the 1951 Convention, could be disastrous. It was obvious to them, and to most state officials, that there didn’t exist the kind of universal accord that had driven the formation of the United Nations, and the passage of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Rights, in the immediate postwar period. On the other hand, there were some encouraging signs at the time, most notably that the United States, which had been unsuccessful in gaining passage of the 1951 Convention through the Senate, was anxious to sign onto a new international refugee treaty in 1968, the year that the General Assembly had named the International Year for Human Rights.
Research Interests:
I have been engaged in a review of documents that in my opinion constitute the travaux préparatoires to the 1967 Refugee Protocol. This repository is unexpectedly rich, and in the preceding three blog posts devoted to this research, I... more
I have been engaged in a review of documents that in my opinion constitute the travaux préparatoires to the 1967 Refugee Protocol. This repository is unexpectedly rich, and in the preceding three blog posts devoted to this research, I have made a number of claims about its historical, political, sociological and legal importance.
Questions remain about the motivation of the Johnson administration in regards to this negotiations process, and for this blog entry, it seems valuable to consider events leading-up to the eventual US accession to the Protocol, and the integration of that treaty to the 1980 INA, against the backdrop of the Cold War.
Questions remain about the motivation of the Johnson administration in regards to this negotiations process, and for this blog entry, it seems valuable to consider events leading-up to the eventual US accession to the Protocol, and the integration of that treaty to the 1980 INA, against the backdrop of the Cold War.
Research Interests:
In order to expand our sense of which rights are due to refugees and asylum seekers, I would suggest that courts look to the travaux of both the Convention and the Protocol, which in both cases suggest a surprisingly humanistic approach... more
In order to expand our sense of which rights are due to refugees and asylum seekers, I would suggest that courts look to the travaux of both the Convention and the Protocol, which in both cases suggest a surprisingly humanistic approach to refugees and asylum seekers. In a series of blog posts, dated February 21st, 2019 and March 7th, 2019, I have proposed that we look back in particular to the travaux of the Protocol, which is comprised of a portion of the memos, notes, minutes and letters that were circulated by negotiators involved in the crafting of the treaty, beginning in 1965 at the Villa Serbelloni, in Bellagio. These travaux have never been assembled into a coherent corpus, and to date nobody has looked into them as a means of interpreting the meaning of the 1967 Protocol. I am currently involved in both efforts. My claim is that, consistent with the 1980 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, these travaux for the Protocol should be consulted as a means of uncovering the intentions of states that have acceded to it, which is especially important for the United States (as well as Capo Verde and Venezuela), since these three nations are party to the Protocol without ever having signed the Convention. In this post, I will focus in particular upon the United States, which vigorously supported negotiations for the Convention (the accession to which failed to pass the Senate), and for the Protocol. The US finally acceded to the international legal regime by acceding to the Protocol, through a 98-0 vote in the Senate.
Research Interests:
The Travaux for the 1967 Protocol offer us privileged access to what state representatives were saying during that treaty’s negotiations and, furthermore, what their intentions were in acceding to it. This is especially important in the... more
The Travaux for the 1967 Protocol offer us privileged access to what state representatives were saying during that treaty’s negotiations and, furthermore, what their intentions were in acceding to it. This is especially important in the case of the United States (as well as Venezuela and Capo Verde), since they never signed the 1951 Convention; therefore, the treaty that governs their actions in regards to refugee protection is the 1967 Protocol, and the Travaux for that Protocol is what was said during those negotiations. As I wrote in my previous blog, since there is lots of ambiguity about what the US adherence to the international refugee law regime means, I think that we need to look at the Protocol’s Travaux for clarity. Therein, we find a far more liberal conception of refugee rights than what is being stated or practiced by the Trump administration. As such, I would suggest that the restrictive actions of this regime are violations of the treaty, and since that the Protocol is at the very heart of the 1980 INA, such actions represent a violation of US law.
Research Interests:
I have amassed close to a thousand pages of letters, minutes of meetings, memos and reports that from repositories of the UNHCR, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Swiss archives, as well as various university... more
I have amassed close to a thousand pages of letters, minutes of meetings, memos and reports that from repositories of the UNHCR, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Swiss archives, as well as various university library repositories. They offer precise details concerning the negotiations that produced the 1967 Protocol to the 1951 Geneva Convention, negotiations that are far more complex than what is generally reported, notably that the 1967 Protocol removed the temporal (pre-1951) and spatial (Europe) limitations imposed in the text of the Convention. Taken as a whole, these documents provide fascinating insights into the drafting history of the Protocol, revealing that the framers of that treaty (13 experts who met up in Bellagio’s Villa Serbelloni in 1965) and, subsequently, officials from UNHCR, were grappling with complex issues regarding international law including the challenge of bringing the United States, which was not signatory to the original Convention, into the universal refugee law regime. These documents bear witness to the high stakes of these negotiations, and since they provide the rationale and intended purpose of the Protocol, they describe a fascinating example of treaty making and, moreover, I believe that they can be treated as travaux préparatoires. If so, then they may be extremely valuable for lawyers who are challenging the growing array of assaults against refugee rights of those countries that signed it. In the context of the United States, I would suggest that because the US never signed the Convention, that the Protocol’s travaux are particularly valuable. The December 2018 decision in Grace v Whitaker, in the DC District Court, provides language to support such a claim.
Research Interests: History, European Studies, American Studies, International Law, Refugee Studies, and 11 moreRegulation And Governance, Immigration, United Nations, International Migration, Treaty Law, Administrative Law, United States Foreign Policy, Law of Treaties, Rockefeller Foundation, Orphans and vulnerable children and community health development, and Dale Carnegie
By way of introduction to this issue, which features work by Thomas Spijkerboer that investigates parallels between evictions of irregularized persons in Apartheid South Africa and contemporary Europe, as well as a portfolio of... more
By way of introduction to this issue, which features work by Thomas Spijkerboer that investigates parallels between evictions of irregularized persons in Apartheid South Africa and contemporary Europe, as well as a portfolio of commentaries and a set of book reviews on current work in the field, Robert Barsky offers a reflection on a new project aimed at studying the first few minutes of an encounter between vulnerable migrants and a host country officials.
Article Details
How to Cite
BARSKY, Robert F.. The Moment the Border is Crossed. AmeriQuests, [S.l.], v. 14, n. 1, p. 1-5, dec. 1969. ISSN 1553-4316. Available at: <http://ameriquests.org/index.php/ameriquests/article/view/4457>. Date accessed: 09 jan. 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.15695/amqst.v14i1.4457.
Article Details
How to Cite
BARSKY, Robert F.. The Moment the Border is Crossed. AmeriQuests, [S.l.], v. 14, n. 1, p. 1-5, dec. 1969. ISSN 1553-4316. Available at: <http://ameriquests.org/index.php/ameriquests/article/view/4457>. Date accessed: 09 jan. 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.15695/amqst.v14i1.4457.
Research Interests:
Noam Chomsky is one of the most recognized names of our time; his contributions to linguistics and the implications of his theories for studies on the workings of the human mind have rocked the intellectual world for over fifty years,... more
Noam Chomsky is one of the most recognized names of our time; his contributions to linguistics and the implications of his theories for studies on the workings of the human mind have rocked the intellectual world for over fifty years, beginning with the critical reception of his first book on Syntactic Structures (1957), his review of Skinner’s Verbal Behaviour for Language in 1959, and the range of books he produced in the 1960s, including his assessment of Current Issues in Linguistic Theory in 1964, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax in 1965, Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar in 1966, Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought, also in 1966, Language and Mind in 1968, and (with Morris Halle) The Sound Pattern of English (1968). Since then, the flow of linguistic work has been profuse, as Chomsky overturned prevailing paradigms in fields concerned with the study of language and set the stage for the rethinking of the whole field of linguistics, often with overt reference to approaches first articulated during the Enlightenment. During this same period, Chomsky’s very public crusade against the Vietnam War, recorded in the pages of the New York Review of Books and assembled in American Power and the New Mandarins, his on-going critique of American foreign policy, his analyses of the Middle East and Central America, his long-standing local and international activism, and his studies (sometimes with Edward Herman) of how media functions in contemporary society, have combined to provoke some very strong feelings, positive and negative, about him and his work. The effect that he has upon people on account of his actions and his views extends across national, social, and institutional lines, and the ever-growing corpus of work he has undertaken in the political realm is a remarkable testament to what an intellectual can accomplish when engaged ‘beyond the ivory tower’. I am concerned with the range of reactions to Chomsky’s arguments because, taken together, they contribute to what I’ve come to think of as the “Chomsky Effect”. This “Effect” is important not only for those interested in understanding Noam Chomsky as a person, but also for those who hope to change the present system of systemic inequality in the direction of positive social change. But Chomsky is consistently reiterating that the type of ‘good society’ that he envisions will not come about as a result of his molding a group of followers sympathetic to his (or anybody else’s) blueprint; indeed, any such suggestion is worrisome since it suggests that people should adhere, to the detriment of their own values and freedom, to some pre-conceived dogma. If society is to change, then attitudes towards it must change, hopefully in response to rational and informed decisionmaking effected for the good of the individual and the associations into which s/he freely enters. Chomsky plays a role here not solely on account of his specific analysis of particular events, but, moreover, on account of the attitude that he brings to his work and to the positive effect that he has upon those who use his approach to challenge oppression and awaken their own creative abilities. From this standpoint Noam Chomsky shouldn’t be seen as a guru, but rather as a catalyst for individuals and groups interested in rational inquiry and in social change.
Research Interests:
The popularization of academic discourse in recent years has caused much debate about how to disseminate knowledge to the public without sacrificing a dedicated emphasis on research. Tenure systems within universities and academic... more
The popularization of academic discourse in recent years has caused much debate about how to disseminate knowledge to the public without sacrificing a dedicated emphasis on research. Tenure systems within universities and academic associations have generally disparaged the involvement of academics in fictional writing, activist media ventures, popular journalism or corporate assignments. Nevertheless, there are still many notable scholars who have either chosen or allowed themselves to become popularizers. This volume is an attempt to relate and analyze the challenges which popular work presents to the academy and to try and tease out the intellectual costs and benefits, both tangible and intangible, of being a “public intellectual.” This raises important questions of social responsibility and professional ethics, which can cloud judgment on either side of the divide. At another level, the debate on popular academics reflects the essential tension between analysis and synthesis which has been phrased in many ways -- intensive versus extensive; reductionist versus holistic; and most recently as disciplinary versus interdisciplinary. Our aim is to approach this relatively intractable topic at various levels. Beyond the Ivory Tower To be a “public intellectual” is to undertake work beyond the “Ivory Tower,” variously construed, a conscious or conscientious effort that has been going on ever since the advent of a line, variously drawn, between an Academy for intellectuals and the rest of society. In Europe and North America, those involved with criticisms of the established order of society have come from a broad array of backgrounds and, inspired by Greek, Roman, Renaissance or Enlightenment thinkers, have imagined themselves spreading ideas and approaches which foster some sense of the common good. As a consequence, many of those who have worked beyond the Ivory Tower have variously identified themselves as Marxists, fascists, feminists, socialists, Utilitarians, Fabians, existentialists, social democrats, libertarians, radicals, anarchists, syndicalists and, in more recent times, civil rights activists, neo-conservatives, neo-liberals, Trotskyites, Maoists and muckrakers, supporting causes ranging the entire “left”-”right” spectrum.[2]Rather than focusing upon how allegiances or resistances to particular programs play out, much of our approach in this volume is to think about responsibilities that intellectuals have as intellectuals, which in some ways leads us to question the very category of the “public intellectual,” because the category of the “intellectual” exists as regards a “public” who supports, admires, respects or expects something from it.
One consequence of this is that intellectuals can be perceived to have, as Howard Zinn suggests, a public responsibility “to earn our keep in this world. Thanks to a gullible public, we have been honored, flattered, even paid, for producing the largest number of inconsequential studies in the history of civilization: tens of thousands of articles, books, monographs, millions of term papers; enough lectures to deafen the gods. Like politicians we have thrived on public innocence, with this difference; the politicians are paid for caring, when they really don’t; we are paid for not caring, when we really do.”[3] This relationship between intellectuals and politicians runs both ways: we rely upon representatives from high-powered intellectual institutions to help us understand and legitimize (say) our government’s policies or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we look to our outspoken intellectuals “to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions.” No matter what side of the political spectrum they speak from, Western intellectuals, according to Chomsky, can have access to the workings of their society on account of their hard-won “political liberty, from access to information and freedom of expression.” For the privileged few who are in this situation, Western democracy “provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us.”[4] Whether or not they choose to do so, and the motivation for their foray beyond their specialization, is a large part of the public intellectual story
One consequence of this is that intellectuals can be perceived to have, as Howard Zinn suggests, a public responsibility “to earn our keep in this world. Thanks to a gullible public, we have been honored, flattered, even paid, for producing the largest number of inconsequential studies in the history of civilization: tens of thousands of articles, books, monographs, millions of term papers; enough lectures to deafen the gods. Like politicians we have thrived on public innocence, with this difference; the politicians are paid for caring, when they really don’t; we are paid for not caring, when we really do.”[3] This relationship between intellectuals and politicians runs both ways: we rely upon representatives from high-powered intellectual institutions to help us understand and legitimize (say) our government’s policies or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we look to our outspoken intellectuals “to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions.” No matter what side of the political spectrum they speak from, Western intellectuals, according to Chomsky, can have access to the workings of their society on account of their hard-won “political liberty, from access to information and freedom of expression.” For the privileged few who are in this situation, Western democracy “provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us.”[4] Whether or not they choose to do so, and the motivation for their foray beyond their specialization, is a large part of the public intellectual story
Research Interests:
On November 1, 1968, UN representative, Ambassador James R. Wiggins, formally deposited the United States accession to the Protocol to the UN Secretary. In a statement, he referred to the million-plus refugees who, since World War II had... more
On November 1, 1968, UN representative, Ambassador James R. Wiggins, formally deposited the United States accession to the Protocol to the UN Secretary. In a statement, he referred to the million-plus refugees who, since World War II had been admitted to the United States, and asserted that that proper, legal treatment of asylum seekers and refugees was a credit to our country, not a burden. His words should resonate on the 50th anniversary of the US accession to the Protocol. We are bound to refugees and asylum seekers by our collective humanity, and, through this treaty, by our adherence to the rule of law. The current rhetoric and treatment of asylum seekers who have reached our borders or are on the way, is not just immoral: it is illegal as well.
Research Interests:
The leaders of nations in the Western hemisphere and the executives of big corporations have been kept busy over the last few years, packing their expensive suitcases and checking their first-class tickets, as they travel from one Summit... more
The leaders of nations in the Western hemisphere and the executives of big corporations have been kept busy over the last few years, packing their expensive suitcases and checking their first-class tickets, as they travel from one Summit or another to
discuss the virtues of free trade and the “opening-up” of markets. It’s not so bad, since they always have taxpayer-funded hired help to ensure that they don’t forget anything, and even if they do, they always have a huge number of resources from which to draw to meet their many needs. Wherever they go—Seattle, Quebec City, Genoa—they looking forward to calling the shots by day, and staying in fancy hotels at night, punctuated by séances of haute cuisine and high-class entertainment. They don’t have to worry about the atmosphere around the table too much because wherever they go, they’re sheltered by highly-trained, pepper-spraying, heavily-armed “security” from those on whose
behalf they’re supposedly meeting. Despite appearances, they are acting for their respective democracies, making decisions to which they will subject the population, whatever it might think about the whole process, or about the “security” measures dished-out to enforce them.
discuss the virtues of free trade and the “opening-up” of markets. It’s not so bad, since they always have taxpayer-funded hired help to ensure that they don’t forget anything, and even if they do, they always have a huge number of resources from which to draw to meet their many needs. Wherever they go—Seattle, Quebec City, Genoa—they looking forward to calling the shots by day, and staying in fancy hotels at night, punctuated by séances of haute cuisine and high-class entertainment. They don’t have to worry about the atmosphere around the table too much because wherever they go, they’re sheltered by highly-trained, pepper-spraying, heavily-armed “security” from those on whose
behalf they’re supposedly meeting. Despite appearances, they are acting for their respective democracies, making decisions to which they will subject the population, whatever it might think about the whole process, or about the “security” measures dished-out to enforce them.
Research Interests:
Preface to Lawrence B. Cohen's book, 'Worker Self Management on Production'
Research Interests:
An introduction to Vol 11, No 2 (2014): Illegality Regimes: Mapping the Law of Irregular Migration, Edited by Juan M. Amaya-Castro (VU University) and Bas Schotel (University of Amsterdam), this paper reviews Obama's Executive Order... more
An introduction to Vol 11, No 2 (2014): Illegality Regimes: Mapping the Law of Irregular Migration, Edited by Juan M. Amaya-Castro (VU University) and Bas Schotel (University of Amsterdam), this paper reviews Obama's Executive Order regarding undocumented immigrants in the context of current debates, and then makes the case for open borders in the Americas, and beyond.
Research Interests:
Undocumented immigration and social justice.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Cet article explore la façon dont le mouvement Beat hérite du modernisme français, en allant jusqu’à le promouvoir rétrospectivement. En nous fondant sur les écrits d’Allen Ginsberg, nous esquissons de manière cursive les grandes lignes... more
Cet article explore la façon dont le mouvement Beat hérite du modernisme français, en allant jusqu’à le promouvoir rétrospectivement. En nous fondant sur les écrits d’Allen Ginsberg, nous esquissons de manière cursive les grandes lignes des écrits et interviews qui ont conduit à faire des écrivains modernistes français des écrivains « Beat », et montrons comment leur influence a inspiré et renforcé la créativité expérimentale qui était au cœur des écrits du mouvement Beat, alors même que leur opinion du modernisme français était parfois singulière, que les textes sélectionnés furent mal interprétés et, qui plus est, sujets à des traductions douteuses lors du passage de la France aux États-Unis.
This article traces a poetic and esthetic lineage from 19thC French Modernism up to the Beat movement in the United States. In it, we take an oblique approach into a corpus of interviews and writings by the poet Allen Ginsberg, who sees in French modernists an important precursor of the writers of the Beat Generation, and we show ultimately the singular influence and impact of French Modernism on the creative experimentation which was at the heart of the Beat aesthetic.
This article traces a poetic and esthetic lineage from 19thC French Modernism up to the Beat movement in the United States. In it, we take an oblique approach into a corpus of interviews and writings by the poet Allen Ginsberg, who sees in French modernists an important precursor of the writers of the Beat Generation, and we show ultimately the singular influence and impact of French Modernism on the creative experimentation which was at the heart of the Beat aesthetic.
Research Interests:
L’oeuvre de Paul Verlaine a traversé l ’océan et passé en Amérique à travers un groupe réduit mais influent d’auteurs bohèmes, notamment des artistes qui ont cherché de nouvelles expérimentations en s’inspirant de sa vie et de son... more
L’oeuvre de Paul Verlaine a traversé l ’océan et passé en Amérique à travers un
groupe réduit mais influent d’auteurs bohèmes, notamment des artistes qui ont cherché
de nouvelles expérimentations en s’inspirant de sa vie et de son travail, des chanteurs ou
compositeurs aux écrivains de la Beat Generation. Cet article célèbre ces liens et évoque
également la collection des oeuvres de Verlaine fraîchement établie et intégrée aux fonds
du Centre W. T. Brandy de l ’université Vanderbilt.
groupe réduit mais influent d’auteurs bohèmes, notamment des artistes qui ont cherché
de nouvelles expérimentations en s’inspirant de sa vie et de son travail, des chanteurs ou
compositeurs aux écrivains de la Beat Generation. Cet article célèbre ces liens et évoque
également la collection des oeuvres de Verlaine fraîchement établie et intégrée aux fonds
du Centre W. T. Brandy de l ’université Vanderbilt.
Research Interests:
Zellig Harris (b. 1909–d. 1992) was a noted linguist whose work contributed to American anthropology, methodologies of scientific research, and linguistic information. In addition, he made contributions to worker self-management, Zionism,... more
Zellig Harris (b. 1909–d. 1992) was a noted linguist whose work contributed to American anthropology, methodologies of scientific research, and linguistic information. In addition, he made contributions to worker self-management, Zionism, and efforts to transform capitalist society in the direction of scientific socialism. He is well known for his early work in Semitics, transformational grammar, and discourse analysis. Zellig Harris not only strove to advance the cause of socialist Zionism, but he also shaped the destinies of many influential thinkers, including Murray Eden, Nathan Glazer, Seymour Melman, Chester Rapkin, and his most famous student, Noam Chomsky. As a consequence, he exerted considerable influence upon crucial currents of 20th-century work, while fostering an inner circle of acolytes, friends, colleagues, and fellow travelers who have each contributed significantly to an array of fields and projects. He worked to revolutionize language studies, and, partly through his relationship with the mathematician Bruria Kaufman and his work with Avukah, a small but important Zionist student organization that advocated for strong Arab-Jewish relations (1925–1942), he had close relations with the physicist (and occasional social thinker) Albert Einstein. On the political front, he worked to update earlier versions of scientific socialism through careful study of industrial society, a passion he shared with Paul Mattick and the astronomer and social thinker Anton Pannekoek. And his work on Zionism, reflected in particular by his contributions to the idea of a nonstate region in Palestine that would be a homeland for suffering peoples around the world, retain a currency even today by the ambition and prescience of his approach.
Research Interests:
This paper utilizes data accumulated from interviews with persons who claimed refugee status in Canada from the former Soviet Union, in order to assess the motivations claimants have for choosing particular host countries and the... more
This paper utilizes data accumulated from interviews with persons who claimed refugee status in Canada from the former Soviet Union, in order to assess the motivations claimants have for choosing particular host countries and the argumentative tactics employed to articulate the decision. The author argues that refugee claimants face innumerable obstacles once they have made the decision to leave the country of origin, not the least of which being the question of why they chose one country, in this case Canada, over another, and that their justification is often articulated through reference to. the American Dream. This Dream ran function as a point of rapprochement between the rJafmant and the adjudicators because both parties are presumably in agreement concerning the basic tenets of the claim, as well as a kind of tacit agreement concerning the character of America that the rinfmant asks the country to uphold. Assessing the rhnmrtrx of the Dream, as described by claimants, also permit* assessment to be made of the perception that potential claimants have of America, based upon the information available to them in the country of origin.
Research Interests:
Historical cross-cultural contact, between Japan and the West, and, in return, between the West and Japan, is a richly-textured and remarkably modern story. In this issue, we expand our understanding of material exchanges, and consider... more
Historical cross-cultural contact, between Japan and the West, and, in return, between the West and Japan, is a richly-textured and remarkably modern story. In this issue, we expand our understanding of material exchanges, and consider the introduction of French modernism to a reluctant space, far from the shores of France, or the US. And to put this issue into the current context, we can also consider the effects of building new walls, new restrictions, and new barriers to exchanges of all sorts, while also contemplating the “sanctuary” that can be offered in order to maintain our obligations, and to promote dignity rather than criminalization.
Research Interests:
Once undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers arrive on American soil, they run the risk of being stopped by law enforcement officials who are charged with investigating their status. A Feb. 17 memo released by the Department of... more
Once undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers arrive on American soil, they run the risk of being stopped by law enforcement officials who are charged with investigating their status. A Feb. 17 memo released by the Department of Homeland Security reveals how great this risk will be under President Donald Trump. Following up on my recent book, “Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law,” I’m focusing my new research on how language is at play during “first encounters” between migrants and officials in the U.S. I’m interviewing officers and officials on the front lines to learn how language and communications affect whether and how they will enforce federal immigration rules, statutes and regulations.
Research Interests:
THE CRISES of refugees in or in transit to Europe, and undocumented immigrants in the United States, are huge international news stories, but most news coverage has left out crucial details that could help sway public opinion and move... more
THE CRISES of refugees in or in transit to Europe, and undocumented immigrants in the United States, are huge international news stories, but most news coverage has left out crucial details that could help sway public opinion and move those in power to alleviate suffering.
Research Interests:
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration aimed at easing deportation threats for millions of undocumented immigrants suffered another setback. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New... more
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration aimed at easing deportation threats for millions of undocumented immigrants suffered another setback. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled 2 to 1 against an appeal by the Obama administration that would have changed the immigration classification of millions of undocumented immigrants on a class-wide basis. Obama’s plan came in the face of Congress’s sustained failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation, and if enacted, they could have offered 5 million people who are currently living in the US the opportunity to work legally.
Even more importantly, perhaps, a positive ruling from the court would have finally sent out a clear message of hope and conciliation rather than continued indecision. This ruling, which was supposed to focus on procedural issues, aggrandized the grey area between the two sides of the immigration debate by challenging the President’s and the director of Homeland Security’s authority to carry out changes in the absence of Congressional approval: “Even with ‘special deference’ to the Secretary, the Immigration and Naturalization Act flatly does not permit the reclassification of millions of illegal aliens as lawfully present and thereby make them newly eligible for a host of federal and state benefits, including work authorization.”
Even more importantly, perhaps, a positive ruling from the court would have finally sent out a clear message of hope and conciliation rather than continued indecision. This ruling, which was supposed to focus on procedural issues, aggrandized the grey area between the two sides of the immigration debate by challenging the President’s and the director of Homeland Security’s authority to carry out changes in the absence of Congressional approval: “Even with ‘special deference’ to the Secretary, the Immigration and Naturalization Act flatly does not permit the reclassification of millions of illegal aliens as lawfully present and thereby make them newly eligible for a host of federal and state benefits, including work authorization.”
Research Interests:
This commentary is based on interviews for Venture Nashville, WMOT NPR station in Murfreesboro TN, Southern Metropolis Daily in China, and Metro World News.
Research Interests:
This article offers an overview of Noam Chomsky’s contributions to linguistics, as well as the multiple fields that are impacted by his approach, including psychology, philosophy, computer sciences, communications, political studies,... more
This article offers an overview of Noam Chomsky’s contributions to linguistics, as well as the multiple fields that are impacted by his approach, including psychology, philosophy, computer sciences, communications, political studies, neuroscience, and behavioral sciences. The emphasis is placed upon his early formative years, the milieus from which he emerges and to which he contributes, and the general attitude that drives his work, right up to the current moment.
Research Interests:
D. H. Lawrence's literary quest remains fraught, and largely misunderstood, because so little attention has been paid to what he learned about how to better understand his own body from people he met who had connections to Ascona and... more
D. H. Lawrence's literary quest remains fraught, and largely misunderstood, because so little attention has been paid
to what he learned about how to better understand his own body from people he met who had connections to Ascona and Monte Verità, in Switzerland. I will argue that what
he learned in those places, both literally and through his relation to Emma Maria Frieda Johanna Freiin (Baroness) von Richthofen, haven’t been clearly identified and explored
as catalysts for the ever-increasing dialogic corporality that many critics wrongly identify as the crass, propagandistic and pornographic writing associated, for example, with Sun
and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Operating in the registers of cultural migration, this article thus recalls the anarchist, bohemian, nudist, sun-worshipping, vegetarian colony at Monte Verità as a crucial source for D.H. Lawrence’s work, and concludes with an invocation of M.M. Bakhtin, whose work reads like a ‘how-to’ manual for readers willing to truly engage
Lawrence’s later earthy, fleshy, pagan, dialogic writing.
to what he learned about how to better understand his own body from people he met who had connections to Ascona and Monte Verità, in Switzerland. I will argue that what
he learned in those places, both literally and through his relation to Emma Maria Frieda Johanna Freiin (Baroness) von Richthofen, haven’t been clearly identified and explored
as catalysts for the ever-increasing dialogic corporality that many critics wrongly identify as the crass, propagandistic and pornographic writing associated, for example, with Sun
and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Operating in the registers of cultural migration, this article thus recalls the anarchist, bohemian, nudist, sun-worshipping, vegetarian colony at Monte Verità as a crucial source for D.H. Lawrence’s work, and concludes with an invocation of M.M. Bakhtin, whose work reads like a ‘how-to’ manual for readers willing to truly engage
Lawrence’s later earthy, fleshy, pagan, dialogic writing.
Research Interests:
Universal values and fundamental human rights that an instrument like the 1948 Declaration meant to uphold is undermined by the mistreatment of undocumented immigrants, and legislation such as the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity,... more
Universal values and fundamental human rights that an instrument like the 1948 Declaration meant to uphold is undermined by the mistreatment of undocumented immigrants, and legislation such as the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” simply reinforce, rather than undo, the systemic obstacles to social justice. We were never lacking reasons to consider more radical solutions to the current crises, worldwide, in regards to irregular migration. But as the numbers grow so too does the suffering, and even a relatively courageous Executive Order issued by a President anxious to solidify a Hispanic or “liberal” voting base does little to change the landscape.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A study of what literature contributes to our understanding of science.
Research Interests:
How Convention refugee claimants articulate their vision of the American Dream, from a research project on refugees in Québec.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Overview The last two decades have seen a burst of renewed interest in narrative theory across many academic disciplines as scholars analyze the power of storytelling in print and other media. Teaching Narrative Theory provides a... more
Overview
The last two decades have seen a burst of renewed interest in narrative theory across many academic disciplines as scholars analyze the power of storytelling in print and other media. Teaching Narrative Theory provides a comprehensive resource for instructors who aim to help students identify and understand the distinctive features of narrativity in a text or discourse and make use of the terms and concepts of the field.
This volume in the Options for Teaching series is organized to assist teachers at different levels of instruction and in different disciplinary settings. In twenty-one essays, the contributors discuss narrative theory's various teaching contexts (e.g., classes on literature, creative writing, and folklore and ethnography); key concepts and terms (e.g., story and plot, time and space, voice, perspective); applications beyond printed texts (e.g., film and digital media); and impact on other areas of theory (e.g., gender and ethnic studies). A glossary provides a guide to the challenging technical terminology characteristic of the field, and the volume as a whole emphasizes the importance of understanding and implementing technical terms in learning narrative theory.
The last two decades have seen a burst of renewed interest in narrative theory across many academic disciplines as scholars analyze the power of storytelling in print and other media. Teaching Narrative Theory provides a comprehensive resource for instructors who aim to help students identify and understand the distinctive features of narrativity in a text or discourse and make use of the terms and concepts of the field.
This volume in the Options for Teaching series is organized to assist teachers at different levels of instruction and in different disciplinary settings. In twenty-one essays, the contributors discuss narrative theory's various teaching contexts (e.g., classes on literature, creative writing, and folklore and ethnography); key concepts and terms (e.g., story and plot, time and space, voice, perspective); applications beyond printed texts (e.g., film and digital media); and impact on other areas of theory (e.g., gender and ethnic studies). A glossary provides a guide to the challenging technical terminology characteristic of the field, and the volume as a whole emphasizes the importance of understanding and implementing technical terms in learning narrative theory.
Research Interests:
This article considers the importance of Ian Mason's work, on accessing contextual assumptions in dialogue interpreting, by evaluating its implications as regards the kinds of translation and interpretation issues that arise when... more
This article considers the importance of Ian Mason's work, on accessing contextual assumptions in dialogue interpreting, by evaluating its implications as regards the kinds of translation and interpretation issues that arise when authority figures encounter 'illegal' immigrants in the Southern US. Based on findings from a large-scale research project completed in 2009, the author argues for a higher level of engagement on the part of the interpreter, such that he or she truly will assume the role of 'interpreter' as opposed to 'translator', active participant instead of a (disingenuously) 'objective' intermediary. On the basis of this work, the author suggests methods of alleviating some of the horrific consequences of the xenophobic lust for 'security' through border enforcement, and the misguided efforts to create immigration law out of a series of haphazardly assembled proposals and guidelines that hapless police officers are forced to enforce.
Research Interests:
A plea for radical creative work in an era of complacency and homogeneity, in academia and beyond.
Research Interests:
The status of literary knowledge has been examined from perspectives which often reflect less about literature than about the motivations of the examining party. Literature as object domain recognizable because of its peculiar... more
The status of literary knowledge has been examined from perspectives which often reflect less about literature than about the motivations of the examining party. Literature as object domain recognizable because of its peculiar literariness, for example, is quite differently construed than literature as competing discursive practice in a realm of social discourse relations; and theoreticians looking for immanent qualities in the language of literary texts can become to varying degrees themselves indicative symptoms of a systematic malaise for theoreticians who look to the role of literature in society as a key to understanding the power of a prevailing ruling class. At the present juncture, there is a group of thinkers who, inspired by sociological / philosophical-minded theoreticians such as Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Mikhail Bakhtin, are questioning the functioning of literature within a broader set of practices deemed "social discourse." Theoreticians such as Marc Angenot, Régine Robin, Claude Duchet and others, are asking what literature knows that other kinds of texts do not, or cannot know, and what literature accomplishes in the marketplace of competing discursive practices. By focussing upon the founding father of social discourse theory (and practice), Marc Angenot, I will outline some of the claims that have been put forth in this field of research. But so as to go beyond simple restatement of accepted ideas, and to coincide two realms that have (in my opinion) far too little contact, I will integrate thoughts on similar issues from a domain that, at first glance, seems dramatically far afield; the political and linguistic writings of Noam Chomsky. My motivation here is multi-directional; both Angenot and Chomsky, despite their many differences, attempt to circumscribe literary knowledge within much larger social projects which centre around thinking about the role of language in prevailing socio-political structures, and both of them suggest a role for literature that is in some ways indicative of respective political projects which, though different in motivation and in method of procedure, share a common end for the amelioration through subversion of this prevailing political paradigm. The surprising results of this juxtaposition indicates the promise, as well as the flaws, of contemporary social (discourse) theory at a juncture in history that seems conspicuously gloomy and pathetically without hope of rebellion or radical change. One small point; it is difficult, or even unfair, to compare a whole school of thinking about texts from a socialized approach with the small number of comments that Chomsky has made on the subject, and in fact this is not my objective. What I am suggesting is that Chomsky's remarks concerning literature and literary criticism do represent a point of view which, even when described with respect to a relatively small number of remarks, nonetheless stand as a useful criticism of and complement to the sociocritical project.
Research Interests:
Many of those people vaguely familiar with Noam Chomsky's political stance, notably his anarchy, would find it difficult to imagine what relationship might exist between Noam Chomsky and The Law.[1] The reasons for this reflect... more
Many of those people vaguely familiar with Noam Chomsky's political stance, notably his anarchy, would find it difficult to imagine what relationship might exist between Noam Chomsky and The Law.[1] The reasons for this reflect misconceptions about anarchy, which lead people to associate it quite specifically with lawlessness; chaos, violence, destruction, and challenges to authority (including the police and other representatives of state order). Other people may have heard Chomsky's political lectures, which often contain references, generally positive, to international law, rule of law, domestic law, and specific legal remedies that rely upon documents such as the Bill of Rights, the US Constitution, the Declaration of Rights and Freedoms, as well as a range of United Nations resolutions and international laws. Despite the problems inherent in the status quo, it does have these mechanisms which, if followed would cut down on some of the misery of the world. "Choice of policy is determined by the goals that are sought. [For example,] if the goal had been to secure Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, settle regional issues, and move towards a more decent world, then Washington would have followed the peaceful means prescribed by international law: sanctions and diplomacy. If the goal is to firm up the mercenary-enforcer role and establish the rule of force, then the Administration policy of narrowing the options to capitulation or war has a certain chilling logic.[2] Finally, there are the personal anecdotes about Chomsky, including those that emanate from widely-reproduced articles such as "Noam is an Island", by Jay Parini (Mother Jones October 1988), in which Parini expresses his surprise at the care that Chomsky takes in crossing the street, and his respect for traffic laws generally. I would suggest that Chomsky is wholly consistent in his views of law, and that a critical source for understanding his approach is, yet again, found in the writings of Rudolf Rocker, notably in the 1933 book Nationalism and Culture, if only because it indicates how a link between Cartesian thinking of the type that Chomsky has long upheld and the anarchist society to which he aspires could be made.[3] I will therefore begin with references to Rocker and the law as a means of unearthing them basic values that underwrite Chomsky's anarchist approach to law, discuss current debates relating thereto, notably discussions concerning the rule of law, and then turn to some specific examples in Chomsky's writings to illuminate the uses he makes of this work.
Research Interests:
In his Foreword to Bakhtin and Otherness, Michael Holquist described first the pleasures of elaborating projects with friends, and then the degree to which the achievement was mitigated by "the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the... more
In his Foreword to Bakhtin and Otherness, Michael Holquist described first the pleasures of elaborating projects with friends, and then the degree to which the achievement was mitigated by "the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the mounting tensions in the Soviet Union." In my introduction to the same work, I noted that it had been one year and a half since Holquist and I had discussed the idea of collaborating on a volume concerning Bakhtin studies, and that now, "amidst an escalating allied-forces led war in the Middle East wherein so-called high technology equipment is used to murder, massacre and maim civilian populations and soldiers at each passing moment even as the enormous resources used to develop and engage such equipment deprives human life of basic human needs, we are on our way to delivering the issue to the printer." We had both claimed some relevance of Bakhtin's work within such a context; my suggestion was that "we should not misconstrue or falsify original research intentions or findings in order to make them 'fit' into useful political practice, we must find ways of researching and acting which will provide the tools necessary to unveil coercive, authoritarian, inhumane and anti-social actions of local, regional, state, national and international political and economic policy makers," and Holquist postulated the importance of Bakhtin in addressing such issues: "the relevance of Bakhtin's work accomplished in -- and speaking to -- a time darker even than this, cannot be highlighted in a more lugubrious fashion. Let us hope that the dialogue itself will have what Bakhtin calls a 'homecoming festival.' Neither of us had foreseen that the carnage brought on by the many types of weapons unleashed upon those Iraqi soldiers in the desert and upon the large city of Baghdad would be joined by the carnage of internationally-sustained post-war starvation and disease, hailed under the banner of 'sanctions.' Five years later, the allies can claim victory in their courageous fight against the newborn and the young in a society now unable to afford basic medical treatments such as vaccinations and anti-biotics. The 'homecoming festival' was reserved for Wall Street, and the dialogue ostensibly limited to individuals of murdering convictions. Nor could we have foreseen the consequences of nationalist uprisings in the former Soviet Union, glimmerings of which were at that time surfacing throughout the Baltics and Eastern Bloc. The question, to recall Holquist's words, is 'Has Bakhtin's work spoken to this period?' Since there are very few elaborate discussions of such questions available to us this regard undertaken by Holquist or anybody else, I'd like to introduce a formidable challenger, Noam Chomsky. Although the examples will be taken from Bakhtin, and in particular his approach to literature, broader application could be foreseen across a spectrum of literary research.
Research Interests: Bakhtin and Noam Chomsky
At some point researchers in the social sciences are made to feel blocked by the apparently small number of options available to them either on account of their resources, the limits of their data, or by the institution from which, or for... more
At some point researchers in the social sciences are made to feel blocked by the apparently small number of options available to them either on account of their resources, the limits of their data, or by the institution from which, or for which, the research is being presented. At the present time, for example, refugee researchers throughout the First World are facing some formidable challenges from a range of fronts in part because draconian budget cuts on the Federal, State, and Municipal levels have generated an even higher-than-usual degree of anti-immigration sentiment in the media. This tends to fuel the pervading xenophobic tendencies across the political spectrum, from the labor left to the extreme right. As a result, politicians have answered unfounded calls for protectionism against the movement of human beings by proposing and passing a series of draconian laws against a backdrop of ever-lessening restrictions against the movement of capital and goods. For instance, migration legislation throughout the First World has opened the door to the setting up of third country legislation, which effectively prevents people from claiming status if they have stopped in another country deemed by our own authorities as "safe." Condemned by the refugee community when first proposed, these laws are now quietly making their way into the books in the form of agreements signed, or under negotiation between, Canada and the European and the United States and, most recently, in a new document called Not Just Numbers, that is to serve as a template for a new immigration law in Canada. Let me be clear about what I'm talking about here. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted by Canada in 1969, a refugee shall apply to any person who: "As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside of the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it." This Convention was worded originally to protect refugees of WWII; it was changed through a 1967 "Protocol" to include any person who suffered persecution in his/country of origin; Canada legislated on the basis of the Convention, the Protocol and the emerging criteria for adjudicating claims when it passed the 1976 Immigration Act, which is ostensibly still in effect. That's it; it's clear enough. If you are being persecuted for the reasons mentioned above, you are eligible for refugee status.
Research Interests:
The leaders of nations in the Western hemisphere and the executives of big corporations have been kept busy over the last few years, packing their expensive suitcases and checking their first-class tickets, as they travel from one Summit... more
The leaders of nations in the Western hemisphere and the executives of big corporations have been kept busy over the last few years, packing their expensive suitcases and checking their first-class tickets, as they travel from one Summit or another to discuss the virtues of free trade and the "opening-up" of markets.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this chapter, Marsha Barsky and Robert Barsky combined forces to suggest that the Bakhtinian conception of the modernist condition is discernable, but it’s situated in his approach to dialogism, which offers a distinctly modern... more
In this chapter, Marsha Barsky and Robert Barsky combined forces to suggest that the Bakhtinian conception of the modernist condition is discernable, but it’s situated in his approach to dialogism, which offers a distinctly modern approach to the relationship between bodies in space and in time. Part of this approach involves a careful examination of the self in relation to the body, the other, and the surrounding environment. Kliger envisions this process in a literary realm, in which “even the most abstract and lifeless of objects” are animated and endowed “with a temporal trajectory of a hero,” allowing for an engagement with abstract or “objectless” art (553). This is interesting as regards literary texts, but it’s even more applicable to bodies moving in space, and with time, for which modern dance provides a particularly salient microcosm.
Research Interests:
Behind Chomsky’s views is a massive corpus of work, from his own pen and from diverse sources connected to language studies, philosophy, political theory, history, anthropology, and cognitive studies, connected, in short, to whichever... more
Behind Chomsky’s views is a massive corpus of work, from his own pen and from diverse sources connected to language studies, philosophy, political theory, history, anthropology, and cognitive studies, connected, in short, to whichever field helps to shed light on the many complex and important questions with which he engages. It’s not unusual for well-known social commentators to have connections to a variety of disciplines, but the level of Chomsky’s engagement in the sciences, including, for example, cognitive sciences, linguistics, the history of science, is extraordinary. From Chomsky’s perspective, if we want to understand how people can or should live in society, we need to know something about the history of social groupings, the ways that power has evolved in particular settings, the multitude of efforts that have been made to shift peoples’ attitudes, the way that we learn and acquire information, and the many different pedagogical experiments that have been tested over time. So of course, confronting racism and its deleterious effects is an urgent policy matter that can be addressed by reconsidering policing, challenging contemporary laws relating to issues of race, and advocating for equality and human rights irrespective of race or country of origin; but at a deeper level, the current challenges facing all of us are connected to profound and perhaps unanswerable questions about human motivation, deviance, and human nature. To engage with the broad corpus of Chomsky’s work is to encounter topical questions posed by diverse populations in search of some enlightenment and guidance, alongside profound questions that date back to the very origin of our species. In this chapter, I set out some perspectives to Chomsky approach, and link it to the foundational ideas and motivations that underwrite both his scientific and his political work, ideas that are connected to creativity, questioning, and radical query.
Research Interests:
A rumination on the meanings and workings of friendship, in honor of Clive Thomson, and inspired by the work of Mikhaïl Bakhtin.
Research Interests:
In the current post 9/11 juncture, immigrants and asylum seekers are increasingly spending time in local, state and federal prisons for violation of a host of newly-enacted or newly-enforced laws in a context of heightened security, and... more
In the current post 9/11 juncture, immigrants and asylum seekers are increasingly spending time in local, state and federal prisons for violation of a host of newly-enacted or newly-enforced laws in a context of heightened security, and this incarceration has as its justification a series of memos, laws, proposed laws and programs which, given their arbitrariness and the high level of discretion that leads to their application, are a kind of legal fiction (see Barsky, 2006a, 2006b). The people who fall into this net, and it’s vast, provide a whole new definition of the term “vulnerable population,” an area of study I have pursued through research on asylum seekers, refugees and homeless people since the mid 1990s. The growing number of immigrants in prisons for having violated immigration regulations in the United States, and throughout the Americas, is of concern not only to the huge population of migrants, but to those who are charged with administering and overseeing their detention as well. For this reason, it may be less of a surprise that the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) has supported the study on intercultural issues relating to incarcerated migrants, for which this article provides a methodological basis. The findings presented here will focus upon the situation in the United States and Mexico, however there is growing homogenization with Canadian institutions as well, on account of US pressure and the increasing acceptance on the part of domestic populations in North America that there is a tangible “security” threat posed by immigrants. As such, this research project applies to all of the NAFTA countries, with implications for any project dealing with similar concerns.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Edited by Robert F. Barsky with contributions from Noam Chomsky and Peter Hitchcock
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Edited by Robert F. Barsky (Vanderbilt) and Marco Martiniello (FRS-FNRS & Université de Liege). Over the last years, artistic activities have found increasing interest among migration researchers because they prove to be a means of moving... more
Edited by Robert F. Barsky (Vanderbilt) and Marco Martiniello (FRS-FNRS & Université de Liege). Over the last years, artistic activities have found increasing interest among migration researchers because they prove to be a means of moving beyond ethnic differences towards narratives of identity and belonging that are more apt to capture the current post-migrant reality in many cities and countries. This issue contributes to that work by focusing on the cultural and artistic participation of migrants and descendants of migrants in a transatlantic perspective, and also on the spaces and the moments when this participation intersects with, and binds to, public forms of intercultural collective engagement, whether artistic, political, or both.Empirical and theoretical papers addressed some overriding questions, such as: what role do culture and the arts play in the lives of newcomers and descendants of migrants? Which cultural and artistic practices and forms of participation do newcomers and descendants of immigrants develop? How do cultural institutions take into account those publics often considered to be disengaged at the cultural and artistic level? Do these cultural practices contribute to creating bonds of solidarity between migrants and natives? And if so, what forms of political representation and collective engagement do they inspire? The papers included in this special issue present diverse but connected approaches to the broad themes of art and border crossings. Photo credit-Sculpture by Susan Clinard, who writes: "I am captivated by the weight that these small sculptural objects hold. I intentionally made them small scale so that they would be held in one's palm and intimately reflected upon. The Talisman boats are quiet meditative sketches; with no oars, no sails… they glide through life with purpose and strength. Each boat is unique: as each person has a different story to tell and journey in front of them.
Research Interests:
Over the 15 years of its existence, AmeriQuests has evolved to address new challenges in the realm of border crossings. Along the way, we have become an important venue for book reviews of new works that describe the challenges facing... more
Over the 15 years of its existence, AmeriQuests has evolved to address new challenges in the realm of border crossings. Along the way, we have become an important venue for book reviews of new works that describe the challenges facing vulnerable migrants as they seek protection across borders of all kinds, including geographical boundaries, the regions that exist between mental states, and the disciplinary boundaries that sometimes impede the transmisson of useful knowledge. This has led us into the realms of art and culture, with the idea that we can often only go so far with judicial or policy solutions, and sometimes we need to look to shift deeply-held attitudes by fictional or symbolic representations. AmeriQuests has also broadened its author base, and for this issue, we are featuring for the first time ever a collection of works written by advanced-level students. The quality of their work attests to the great potential of each of them, and speaks to the power of work being done by young authors.
The cover art was photographed at the Tate Modern Museum by Victoria Herring, and the subject matter is consistent with the aesthetic border-crossing work that AmeriQuests promotes. The piece, by Yinka Shonibare, consists of a huge room filled with thousands of books with the names of refugees who chose to seek protection in Britain, as well as the names of those who oppose immigration. Some of the book spines are blank too, suggesting the full refugee story is yet to be written.
Published: 01-07-2020
The cover art was photographed at the Tate Modern Museum by Victoria Herring, and the subject matter is consistent with the aesthetic border-crossing work that AmeriQuests promotes. The piece, by Yinka Shonibare, consists of a huge room filled with thousands of books with the names of refugees who chose to seek protection in Britain, as well as the names of those who oppose immigration. Some of the book spines are blank too, suggesting the full refugee story is yet to be written.
Published: 01-07-2020
Research Interests:
This issue, edited by Robert F. Barsky, offers a sweeping overview of current issues in border crossing through rigorous reviews of new scholarship and original work. Covering topics such as homelessness, refugee children, religion and... more
This issue, edited by Robert F. Barsky, offers a sweeping overview of current issues in border crossing through rigorous reviews of new scholarship and original work. Covering topics such as homelessness, refugee children, religion and migration, refugee camps, the law of asylum, refugees on the high seas and the pathways taken by vulnerable migrants seeking protection, this issue will serve as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners who work with refugees, undocumented persons, and migration from legal, humanistic and social sciences perspectives.
Research Interests:
This issue, edited by Robert F. Barsky, features a broad array of border crossings, in narrative, literature, law and in geographical spaces all around the world. The genres, approaches and methods are as diverse as the problems named,... more
This issue, edited by Robert F. Barsky, features a broad array of border crossings, in narrative, literature, law and in geographical spaces all around the world. The genres, approaches and methods are as diverse as the problems named, and are tackled first by a major article by Thomas Spijkeboer that makes a provocative parallel between the irregularization and eviction of non-white in South Africa during the Apartheid, and the refugee policies carried out in Europe in recent times. Several researchers have also answered the call for 'commentaries', an effective way of interjecting critical voices at this juncture, when the rate of new policies and actions on borders worldwide seems to be moving at break neck (sometimes literally) speed. Finally, AmeriQuests is pursuing with vigor the task of reviewing recent and new works on border crossing, in part because of the urgency of issues discussed therein, and in part because of the lamentable dearth of venues for such reviews, particularly venues that are open access and easily accessible, worldwide. The image for this issue is part of an on-going effort to create BorderQuests/Global Stories, a new platform linked to AmeriQuests that features articles, stories, videos and commentaries devoted to the crossing of borders.
Published: 12-13-2017
Published: 12-13-2017
Research Interests:
This issue, edited by Robert Barsky and David Maraniss, features a series of timely position papers regarding current issues in border-crossing, as well as a collection of Beat Generation inspired ruminations about "America".
Research Interests:
This issue, co-edited by Robert F. Barsky, David Maraniss and Daniel Ridge, is the fourth in a series on "cultural modernism" that considers the impact of French modernism upon different parts of the world. The articles were first... more
This issue, co-edited by Robert F. Barsky, David Maraniss and Daniel Ridge, is the fourth in a series on "cultural modernism" that considers the impact of French modernism upon different parts of the world. The articles were first presented at a 2015 conference at the W.T. Bandy Center devoted to the impact of the poetry and prose of Charles Baudelaire on modern Japanese culture.
Cultural border-crossing from France to Japan, and then to America, is complemented by new work by Vanderbilt Law School students on the sanctuary movement and its relation to current events in the United States.
The issue is rounded-off with a collection of poetry written by students at Vanderbilt University who have been inspired by Allen Ginsberg, David Maraniss and Robert Barsky to think about their "America".
Cultural border-crossing from France to Japan, and then to America, is complemented by new work by Vanderbilt Law School students on the sanctuary movement and its relation to current events in the United States.
The issue is rounded-off with a collection of poetry written by students at Vanderbilt University who have been inspired by Allen Ginsberg, David Maraniss and Robert Barsky to think about their "America".
Research Interests:
Lawrence B. Cohen began revising his Columbia University PhD dissertation on worker self management in the spring of 1949, with an eye to publishing it for broad circulation. He completed the first draft in the spring of 1950, and then... more
Lawrence B. Cohen began revising his Columbia University PhD dissertation on worker self management in the spring of 1949, with an eye to publishing it for broad circulation. He completed the first draft in the spring of 1950, and then revised it over the next few years with input from Stanley Aranowitz and Seymour Melman.
The final manuscript offers intimate details regarding the workings of a local union, and provides significant insight into worker decision making. The goal of the union that Cohen investigated was to establish "rules which can be applied without bias," and on this basis he sets forth a framework for active worker participation in decision making that relates to production.
The complete manuscript of this book is hereby presented for the first time, and it is accompanied by scholarly and historical commentary that helps situate it within its historical context, while at the same time providing illuminating insights for workers and scholars concerned with shifting power relations in the workplace.
The final manuscript offers intimate details regarding the workings of a local union, and provides significant insight into worker decision making. The goal of the union that Cohen investigated was to establish "rules which can be applied without bias," and on this basis he sets forth a framework for active worker participation in decision making that relates to production.
The complete manuscript of this book is hereby presented for the first time, and it is accompanied by scholarly and historical commentary that helps situate it within its historical context, while at the same time providing illuminating insights for workers and scholars concerned with shifting power relations in the workplace.
Research Interests:
Vol 11, No 2 (2014): Illegality Regimes: Mapping the Law of Irregular Migration , Edited by Juan M. Amaya-Castro (VU University) and Bas Schotel (University of Amsterdam). Recent years have seen the development of increasingly... more
Vol 11, No 2 (2014): Illegality Regimes: Mapping the Law of Irregular Migration , Edited by Juan M. Amaya-Castro (VU University) and Bas Schotel (University of Amsterdam). Recent years have seen the development of increasingly sophisticated legal and policy approaches to address the phenomenon of irregular immigration. Many states have moved beyond traditional means of law enforcement, such as criminalization, without necessarily abandoning them. In addition, they have begun to employ other areas of law (such as administrative law and labor law) in pursuit of controlling irregular immigration. For example, the verification of legal residence status, by means of ID-controls, has become increasingly necessary in the day to day life of all people: citizens and non-citizens alike. Private citizens, and not government agents, are evolving into the primary enforcers of these policies, as they have been made legally responsible for the control of legal residence status, for example in the case of employment. These legal and policy instruments have sometimes been justified with reference to economic theories, such as 'attrition through enforcement', the broken window theory, and most recently 'self-deportation', a term that ironically originated in a stand-up sketch performed by two Hispanic comedians in the mid '90s. Among economic scholars, a debate about the (lack of) effectiveness of these policies has been growing the last couple of years, and this special issue offers a more rigorous analysis by legal and other social science scholars of these responses to irregular migration.
Research Interests:
Edited by Robert F. Barsky, Michel Pierssens and Daniel Ridge, this issue addresses the emergence of modernism and modernity in Québec, and the ways this process has been influenced by French modernism. The articles presented here grew... more
Edited by Robert F. Barsky, Michel Pierssens and Daniel Ridge, this issue addresses the emergence of modernism and modernity in Québec, and the ways this process has been influenced by French modernism. The articles presented here grew out of a conference on the effects of French modernism upon the work of Québécois artists and writers, presented in collaboration with Vanderbilt University's W.T. Bandy Center in 2013. The next conference, Cultural Modernism in the Americas 2, is scheduled for April of 2014, and will focus upon Latin America. The proceedings will be published in AmeriQuests in 2015.
Research Interests:
A discussion between Barsky and Holquist on 'otherness' in Bakhtin's work.
Research Interests:
Robert F. Barsky's introduction to his translation of Michel Meyer's book 'Le Philosophe et les Passions' (Livres de Poche) for Penn State Press.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This conference is part of a much larger project, funded by the University of Western Ontario’s Academic Development Fund, which aimed to set up a research component, an international conference, as well as a website for the journal... more
This conference is part of a much larger project, funded by the University of Western Ontario’s Academic Development Fund, which aimed to set up a research component, an international conference, as well as a website for the journal SubStance. To that end, we have done significant SubStance-related work here, and have as well downloaded to the web a searchable archives area for most of the journal’s issues that have been published in the last 30 years. The site is also home to a discussion section, and soon there will be a publishing area, where, for example, transcriptions of this conference’s proceedings as well as some of the papers, will appear. This endeavor was initiated partly to foster or create a community of interested scholars at various levels who might wish to participate in the workings and discussions of an active theory journal.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This special issue, edited by Robert Barsky, aims to recall, assess and promulgate ideas of radicalism in the Americas, with a special focus on the particularities of Quebec. This issue focuses upon the idea of "America" as an absolute... more
This special issue, edited by Robert Barsky, aims to recall, assess and promulgate ideas of radicalism in the Americas, with a special focus on the particularities of Quebec. This issue focuses upon the idea of "America" as an absolute but unachievable objective, and therefore it contains some creative work that expresses ideals and dreams for worlds imagined in time, space and imagination. This issue is dedicated to the memory of Howard Zinn, with whom we communicated about the issue in the course of its preparation, and who died just as we were going to press. We deeply regret his passing.
Research Interests:
Edited by Saleem Ali and Robert Barsky, this special issue of AmeriQuests is comprised of papers and commentaries which were first presented to the MIT Communications Forum entitled “Public Intellectuals and the Academy.” The authors have... more
Edited by Saleem Ali and Robert Barsky, this special issue of AmeriQuests is comprised of papers and commentaries which were first presented to the MIT Communications Forum entitled “Public Intellectuals and the Academy.” The authors have aggrandized and edited their respective contributions with an eye to creating a collection that approaches this complex subject from a range of perspectives, East and West.
Research Interests:
To address the appeal of Bernie Sanders for a college-age population, I created a course at Vanderbilt, and see what the students had to say about the Bernie they knew, and the Bernie they came to know better as they read primary... more
To address the appeal of Bernie Sanders for a college-age population, I created a course at Vanderbilt, and see what the students had to say about the Bernie they knew, and the Bernie they came to know better as they read primary and secondary texts relating to his life and work. The Political Science Department at Vanderbilt University was amenable, and so in the fall of 2021 I opened the course up to (a flood of!) students. Ilimited the class size, however, because Iwanted to review all of the material myself, and not have to rely on a graduate student. I decided as well to invite guests who couldbroaden and deepen the conversation, and so we had memorable talks from John Geer (Vanderbilt Professor and Dean),Ryan Nobles(CNN), Alex Rogers(CNN)and Faiz Shakir,Bernie’s campaign manager.Within weeks of starting the course, Irealized that I’d struck intellectual gold with these students. They were engaged, sharp, critical, and deeply aware of the issues. Iwanted to hear their voices, though, rather than leading them to follow a set course plan, and so Iasked them tocontribute “position papers”pertaining to their specific areas of interest,and to present their ideas to the class in oral presentations. They also turned in final projects, which sometimes expanded their work for the other assignments, orelse set out on new pathways. Ialso invited them to read froma broad list of works connected to Bernie’s ideas, and (as an optional assignment) to contribute a book review as well. By mid-semester, Iknew thatIwasn’t going to write that biography of Bernie Sanders, but Iwas instead going to invite, help edit, and then publish those students who wrote positionpapers and/or book reviews in AmeriQuests.This special issue,The Mittens and the Dove, is the result.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Consistent with our effort to study "cultural modernisms" as they crossed borders from France to Québec, this introduction considers the pervasiveness of Baudelaire’s 1857 obscenity trial, for not only did it serve to memorialize and... more
Consistent with our effort to study "cultural modernisms" as they crossed borders from France to Québec, this introduction considers the pervasiveness of Baudelaire’s 1857 obscenity trial, for not only did it serve to memorialize and popularize Baudelaire’s work, it also has remains a touchstone in references to work subsequently deemed obscene, right up to this very year in Quebec. Considering similarities between the Remy Couture trial and that of Baudelaire leads us to the long history of litigation regarding obscenity, and, moreover, the presentation of the materials to the court tells us something about how obscenity laws are used to weed out materials deemed “out of place” in societies such as France, England, the US and Canada.
Research Interests:
By way of introduction to this issue, which features work by Thomas Spijkerboer that investigates parallels between evictions of irregularized persons in Apartheid South Africa and contemporary Europe, as well as a portfolio of... more
By way of introduction to this issue, which features work by Thomas Spijkerboer that investigates parallels between evictions of irregularized persons in Apartheid South Africa and contemporary Europe, as well as a portfolio of commentaries and a set of book reviews on current work in the field, Robert Barsky offers a reflection on a new project aimed at studying the first few minutes of an encounter between vulnerable migrants and a host country officials.
Research Interests:
For 17 years, AmeriQuests has been publishing peer-reviewed articles, thought-provoking commentaries, special issues, and monographs connecting intellectual and geographical quests across borders. At the same time, We have hosted a robust... more
For 17 years, AmeriQuests has been publishing peer-reviewed articles, thought-provoking commentaries, special issues, and monographs connecting intellectual and geographical quests across borders. At the same time, We have hosted a robust and growing book review section that features overviews of recent books in the broad field of border crossing, written by a range of scholars, academics, and highly-motivated students. Along the way, we have maintained a consistent devotion to the publication, critique, and review of the arts, especially literature, often in relation to legal questions or issues. Our readers and contributors have found that artistic and literary works bring us to unexpected geographical and mental spaces, beyond the confines of contemporary political realities. In short, we have been committed to all kinds of quests, in the hope that they might help move our readers beyond the party affiliations that so often define the limits within which discussions can occur. To follow up on this objective, we are now opening up an entirely new digital space called Contours, that will be devoted to artistic representations of border crossings. The objective of this journal is to go beyond policy briefs, knowledge syntheses and scoping reviews relating to the flight and plight of displaced persons, and into more creative realms. Contours will invite contributors, and those who participate in the experiences it promotes, to explore borders and border-crossing by engaging with artworks, and by participating in interactive aesthetic experiences. Partnerships, Processes and Collaborations Contours will partner with several border crossing institutions, and participate in related initiatives around the world. We will work on a new digital open access space for our work, thanks to a new partnership the Media Lab's pubpub group, and the Knowledge Futures Group, at MIT. They will pioneer a new platform that will provide artists and participants with new ways of representing and interacting with artistic materials pertaining to border crossing. This development procedure will emphasize process and performance, and it will be powered by contributing artists and participants who will be invited to present the process whereby they make work, and the experience they hope to represent and convey. Border crossing is itself a process, and exploring its many meanings requires new levels of engagement that move us beyond fixed representations. Creating and discussing artworks is also a process, with no clearly-defined meaning or end. Contours will be an unfettered open access space that will inspire people to engage rather than admire, to participate rather than view, and to thereby challenge the rigid us-them, foreign-native, home-host dichotomies that have propelled policymakers to emphasize the militarization of borders, the separation of families, and the erection of impermeable physical and legal walls. The Contours space will help foster new ideas, new dreams, and new ways of imagining borders and passage. In its very constitution, Contours is committed to bringing down the barriers that currently exclude the broad array of people, ideas and voices, particularly those in the Global South, or those without the kinds of institutional support that can handmaiden journeys of protection or creation. Why focus upon the arts? The arts operate at many different levels, from pop-culture to high artistic forms. Without imposing a doctrine or demanding allegiance, the arts can work to disrupt the current tendency to attract adherents to one side of an argument, while driving away those who see in that side some kind of a threat to their own cherished values. Contours aims to highlight challenging artistic work, rather than fitting it into some pre-existing categories. Our goal is to heighten rather than diminish individual experiences, and augment rather than repressing human senses. It's clear that
Research Interests:
Duke Romance Studies Lecture 6 subscribers Clamouring for Legal Protection. What the Great Books Teach us about People Fleeing from Persecution. In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of... more
Duke Romance Studies Lecture
6 subscribers
Clamouring for Legal Protection. What the Great Books Teach us about People Fleeing from Persecution. In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of so-called Great Books, and discovers that many beloved characters therein encounter obstacles similar to those faced by contemporary refugees and undocumented persons. The struggles of Odysseus, Moses, Aeneas, Dante, Satan, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland, among many others, provide surprising insights into current discussions about those who have left untenable situations in their home countries in search of legal protection. Law students, lawyers, social scientists, literary scholars and general readers who are interested in learning about international refugee law and immigration regulations in home and host countries will find herein a plethora of details about border crossings, including those undertaken to flee pandemics, civil unrest, racism, intolerance, war, forced marriage, or limited opportunities in their home countries.
6 subscribers
Clamouring for Legal Protection. What the Great Books Teach us about People Fleeing from Persecution. In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of so-called Great Books, and discovers that many beloved characters therein encounter obstacles similar to those faced by contemporary refugees and undocumented persons. The struggles of Odysseus, Moses, Aeneas, Dante, Satan, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland, among many others, provide surprising insights into current discussions about those who have left untenable situations in their home countries in search of legal protection. Law students, lawyers, social scientists, literary scholars and general readers who are interested in learning about international refugee law and immigration regulations in home and host countries will find herein a plethora of details about border crossings, including those undertaken to flee pandemics, civil unrest, racism, intolerance, war, forced marriage, or limited opportunities in their home countries.
Research Interests:
The 10th Annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam Public Lecture entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the Buildup Towards World War II to the Occupy Movement". The lecture was delivered at the National... more
The 10th Annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam Public Lecture entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the Buildup Towards World War II to the Occupy Movement". The lecture was delivered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Research Interests:
Dédié aux questions d’exils et de cohabitations entre les citoyens et les nouveaux arrivants, le Festival Atlas of Transitions est un temps fort qui interroge les réalités migratoires au travers d’une programmation riche et variée : Les... more
Dédié aux questions d’exils et de cohabitations entre les citoyens et les nouveaux arrivants, le Festival Atlas of Transitions est un temps fort qui interroge les réalités migratoires au travers d’une programmation riche et variée :
Les hostilités Léa Drouet, accompagné des conférences thématiques en lien avec la programmation, co-organisées avec le CEDEM – le centre d’étude de l’ethnicité des migrations de l’Université de Liège: https://vimeo.com/410961784/411b243f82
Les hostilités Léa Drouet, accompagné des conférences thématiques en lien avec la programmation, co-organisées avec le CEDEM – le centre d’étude de l’ethnicité des migrations de l’Université de Liège: https://vimeo.com/410961784/411b243f82
Research Interests:
Subject: Literature, the Law, and Frankenstein Released: January 2020 Host Leonard M. Baynes explores the importance of literature to society with Robert F. Barsky, Professor and Canada Research Chair In Law, Narrative, and Border... more
Subject: Literature, the Law, and Frankenstein
Released: January 2020
Host Leonard M. Baynes explores the importance of literature to society with Robert F. Barsky, Professor and Canada Research Chair In Law, Narrative, and Border Crossing at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Barsky has expertise in the combination of social justice, human rights, border and refugee studies, and he uses literary and artistic observations to examine the predicaments of vulnerable migrants.
Literature is important to society when it stimulates deep character and situational understanding. It provides a shared experience when a character, setting or scene resonates with readers, and readers apply their own insights to current concerns, including legal issues. Even if a reader’s conclusions are different, the collective analysis informs the direction of a culture.
Released: January 2020
Host Leonard M. Baynes explores the importance of literature to society with Robert F. Barsky, Professor and Canada Research Chair In Law, Narrative, and Border Crossing at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Barsky has expertise in the combination of social justice, human rights, border and refugee studies, and he uses literary and artistic observations to examine the predicaments of vulnerable migrants.
Literature is important to society when it stimulates deep character and situational understanding. It provides a shared experience when a character, setting or scene resonates with readers, and readers apply their own insights to current concerns, including legal issues. Even if a reader’s conclusions are different, the collective analysis informs the direction of a culture.
Research Interests:
The Ottawa Book Festival's interview with Barsky about his novel 'HATCHED'. A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart... more
The Ottawa Book Festival's interview with Barsky about his novel 'HATCHED'.
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects his restaurant in the shape of a Fabergé egg, modeled after those remarkable masterpieces that were offered each year by the Czar to his beloved wife in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Fabergé Restaurant becomes 'the' destination for the wealthiest of NYC clients, but it's also the place where a plan is Hatched by three former college roommates to counterfeit billions of dollars and shake the United States economy to its very yolk. A rollicking nove
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects his restaurant in the shape of a Fabergé egg, modeled after those remarkable masterpieces that were offered each year by the Czar to his beloved wife in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Fabergé Restaurant becomes 'the' destination for the wealthiest of NYC clients, but it's also the place where a plan is Hatched by three former college roommates to counterfeit billions of dollars and shake the United States economy to its very yolk. A rollicking nove
Research Interests:
Blog Post published by Yelena Kalinsky on Monday, January 11, 2016 0 Replies We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms reviewer Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind:... more
Blog Post published by Yelena Kalinsky on Monday, January 11, 2016 0 Replies
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms reviewer Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about politics and education in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online. The review that we discuss in the interview is:
Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms reviewer Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about politics and education in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online. The review that we discuss in the interview is:
Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.
Research Interests:
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects... more
A well-respected chef in New York City has decided to fulfill a lifelong dream, to open a restaurant that is devoted entirely to "eggy" creations in the smart Wall Street area of the City. Working with an inspired architect, John erects his restaurant in the shape of a Fabergé egg, modeled after those remarkable masterpieces that were offered each year by the Czar to his beloved wife in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. Fabergé Restaurant becomes 'the' destination for the wealthiest of NYC clients, but it's also the place where a plan is Hatched by three former college roommates to counterfeit billions of dollars and shake the United States economy to its very yolk. A rollicking novel filled with intrigue, passion and voluptuous egg recipes, Hatched is a sumptuous treat.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Barsky paid some of his college bills by working in restaurants in Cape Cod and Montreal, and after graduating he moved to Switzerland to pursue a career in skiing, supporting himself by working in an upscale hotel bar. He now enjoys cooking for his wife and his college-aged children, and writing about language, literature and revolution. He is the author of eight books, including biographies of Noam Chomsky and Zellig Harris. This is his first novel, and he is excited (egg-cited?) to work on the next one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Barsky paid some of his college bills by working in restaurants in Cape Cod and Montreal, and after graduating he moved to Switzerland to pursue a career in skiing, supporting himself by working in an upscale hotel bar. He now enjoys cooking for his wife and his college-aged children, and writing about language, literature and revolution. He is the author of eight books, including biographies of Noam Chomsky and Zellig Harris. This is his first novel, and he is excited (egg-cited?) to work on the next one.
Research Interests:
The Chomsky Effect With Robert Barsky Noam Chomsky had two giant careers: one in the science of language, another in the rough and tumble of anti-war politics, beckoning the question is it one Chomsky or two? In our two weeks of... more
The Chomsky Effect With Robert Barsky
Noam Chomsky had two giant careers: one in the science of language, another in the rough and tumble of anti-war politics, beckoning the question is it one Chomsky or two? In our two weeks of interviewing, reading and discussing the man, I was searching for the larger idea or human impulse that drives the stubborn peacenik and the father of modern linguistics.
You can feel some of the answer in Chomsky’s voice and presence, but we got outside clarification too from his biographer Robert Barsky, who’s puzzled through the Chomsky links for years – and talked with Chomsky about them. I asked Robert Barsky to lay out the foundational principles of Chomsky’s thought – first about language acquisition, and then about power:
At the end of the day, so much of Noam Chomsky’s work is about power. If power is in the business of teaching us how to be good consumers, if power is in the business of keeping us down, if power is in the business of teaching us how to vote against our own best interests, then what is the opposite? The opposite is: how do you promote creativity? How do you promote people’s ability to think for themselves? How do promote people’s understanding of their connection to the people around them in ways that are going to benefit themselves and their environment as opposed to just allow them to have more power.That I think is at the very heart of Noam Chomsky linguistically, in terms of academics and in terms of his social thought.
Noam Chomsky had two giant careers: one in the science of language, another in the rough and tumble of anti-war politics, beckoning the question is it one Chomsky or two? In our two weeks of interviewing, reading and discussing the man, I was searching for the larger idea or human impulse that drives the stubborn peacenik and the father of modern linguistics.
You can feel some of the answer in Chomsky’s voice and presence, but we got outside clarification too from his biographer Robert Barsky, who’s puzzled through the Chomsky links for years – and talked with Chomsky about them. I asked Robert Barsky to lay out the foundational principles of Chomsky’s thought – first about language acquisition, and then about power:
At the end of the day, so much of Noam Chomsky’s work is about power. If power is in the business of teaching us how to be good consumers, if power is in the business of keeping us down, if power is in the business of teaching us how to vote against our own best interests, then what is the opposite? The opposite is: how do you promote creativity? How do you promote people’s ability to think for themselves? How do promote people’s understanding of their connection to the people around them in ways that are going to benefit themselves and their environment as opposed to just allow them to have more power.That I think is at the very heart of Noam Chomsky linguistically, in terms of academics and in terms of his social thought.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky Vanderbilt University Subscribe12,499 Add to Share More 10 views 0 0 Published on Apr 25, 2016 In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push... more
Robert Barsky
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 10 views
0 0
Published on Apr 25, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 10 views
0 0
Published on Apr 25, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky Vanderbilt University Subscribe12,499 Add to Share More 39 views 1 0 Published on Apr 15, 2016 In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push... more
Robert Barsky
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 39 views
1 0
Published on Apr 15, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 39 views
1 0
Published on Apr 15, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky Vanderbilt University Subscribe12,499 Add to Share More 34 views 2 0 Published on Apr 11, 2016 In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push... more
Robert Barsky
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 34 views
2 0
Published on Apr 11, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 34 views
2 0
Published on Apr 11, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky Vanderbilt University Subscribe12,499 Add to Share More 49 views 2 0 Published on Apr 4, 2016 In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push... more
Robert Barsky
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 49 views
2 0
Published on Apr 4, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual
interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his
purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt University
Subscribe12,499
Add to Share More 49 views
2 0
Published on Apr 4, 2016
In the face of the challenges presented by the modern world, many poets and writers undertook major experimentation to push the limits of what could be expressed in writing. William Butler Yeats, writing in the very heart of the modern period, resisted this tendency and instead looked to the past for iconic work. He drew from the long tradition of poetic symbols, images, and diction. His work remains beautiful, powerful, and strangely pertinent even despite his unusual
interests and propensities. In this course we will review his major works and relate them to his biography, culminating with his
purchase of, and living in, the tower.
Robert Barsky, Professor, Department of
English, Department of French & Italian,
Vanderbilt University
Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The Art of the Review - Episode 12 The Long Review Yelena Kalinsky's picture Audio published by Yelena Kalinsky on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 0 Replies taotrep12thelongreview.mp3 00:00 00:00 Description: We... more
The Art of the Review - Episode 12 The Long Review
Yelena Kalinsky's picture Audio published by Yelena Kalinsky on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 0 Replies
taotrep12thelongreview.mp3
00:00
00:00
Description:
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms review editor Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program that "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about education and politics in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online, in the interview. The review we discuss in the interview is:
Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.
Link to the review in the Commons.
To receive updates about new episodes and join the discussion, subscribe to H-Podcast. Follow H-Net Reviews on Twitter: @HNet_Reviews or subscribe to the H-Reviews listserv to receive new reviews daily in your email in-box.
Credits:
The Art of the Review is produced by Robert Cassanello and Yelena Kalinsky, and sponsored by H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online and the University of Central Florida's Center for Humanities & Digital Research.
Categories: The Art of the Review, Podcast
Keywords: episode, long review, ep12, review, H-Socialisms, Anti-Communism, higher education, interdisciplinarity
Yelena Kalinsky's picture Audio published by Yelena Kalinsky on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 0 Replies
taotrep12thelongreview.mp3
00:00
00:00
Description:
We start out the new year with a long interview with H-Socialisms review editor Dr. Gary Roth and reviewer Dr. Robert Barsky about Bob's review of The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature by Jaime Nace Cohen-Cole. When Bob was working on his review last spring, he found that the "open mind" program that Cohen-Cole describes in his book, a program that "promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and ... the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America," had a lot of resonance with Barsky's own research on Zionist student organizers between the World Wars, as well as his role as a faculty head of house at Vanderbilt University. Bob ended up writing a long review that considers the issues in Cohen-Cole's book in the context of larger debates about education and politics in mid-twentieth-century America and again today. We discussed some of these questions, and the role of H-Net as a platform for promoting some of the same "open" values online, in the interview. The review we discuss in the interview is:
Robert F. Barsky. Review of Cohen-Cole, Jamie Nace, The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. June, 2015.
Link to the review in the Commons.
To receive updates about new episodes and join the discussion, subscribe to H-Podcast. Follow H-Net Reviews on Twitter: @HNet_Reviews or subscribe to the H-Reviews listserv to receive new reviews daily in your email in-box.
Credits:
The Art of the Review is produced by Robert Cassanello and Yelena Kalinsky, and sponsored by H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online and the University of Central Florida's Center for Humanities & Digital Research.
Categories: The Art of the Review, Podcast
Keywords: episode, long review, ep12, review, H-Socialisms, Anti-Communism, higher education, interdisciplinarity
Research Interests:
The 10th annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam distinguished public lecture, entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the buildup towards World War II to the Occupy Movement", will take place on... more
The 10th annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam distinguished public lecture, entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the buildup towards World War II to the Occupy Movement", will take place on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 5:00pm, and will be delivered by Dr. Robert Barsky, the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor at Vanderbilt University. The lecture will be held in the Salon at the National Arts Centre at 53 Elgin Street in Ottawa. This event is free and open to the public.
Robert Barsky is a professor of French and Italian with a joint appointment to the Department of English at Vanderbilt University. An eminent member of the humanities division of the College of Arts and Science, Dr. Barsky teaches literature and works in immigration studies, linguistics and radicalism in American Jewish life. He is the founder and editor of AmeriQuests, a peer-reviewed e-journal devoted to writing and research about real and metaphorical quests toward “America.” Dr. Barsky is also the official biographer of Noam Chomsky and the author of The Chomsky Effect (2009) and Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Social Zionism (2011).
The lecture coincides with the annual Fall Orientation Program for our Killam Fellows, our Fulbright American student grantees in Canada, and our American Fulbright scholars in Canada.
Robert Barsky is a professor of French and Italian with a joint appointment to the Department of English at Vanderbilt University. An eminent member of the humanities division of the College of Arts and Science, Dr. Barsky teaches literature and works in immigration studies, linguistics and radicalism in American Jewish life. He is the founder and editor of AmeriQuests, a peer-reviewed e-journal devoted to writing and research about real and metaphorical quests toward “America.” Dr. Barsky is also the official biographer of Noam Chomsky and the author of The Chomsky Effect (2009) and Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Social Zionism (2011).
The lecture coincides with the annual Fall Orientation Program for our Killam Fellows, our Fulbright American student grantees in Canada, and our American Fulbright scholars in Canada.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Denver Justice & Peace Committee
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Robert Barsky is a professor at Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN. The complete title for this speech is "Addressing the Plight of Undocumented Immigrants in the US: The Case for Open Borders"
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Zellig Harris’s name is famous in linguistics primarily for his early work on transformational grammar and his influence on his most famous student, Noam Chomsky. However, much of his linguistic work has since fallen into comparative... more
Zellig Harris’s name is famous in linguistics primarily for his early work on transformational grammar and his influence on his most famous student, Noam Chomsky. However, much of his linguistic work has since fallen into comparative obscurity. Moreover, his political research and activism – about which he was especially guarded throughout his lifetime – has received scant attention.
In this meticulously-researched biography, Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism (MIT Press, 2011), Robert Barsky casts a great deal more light upon Harris’s story. Exploring his involvement in the Avukah student group in the 1930s and 40s, Barsky shows how Harris not only strove to advance the cause of socialist Zionism, but also shaped the destinies of several influential thinkers. He also traces the course of the revolutionary programme of linguistic enquiry that Harris laid out, inspired by the example of theoretical physics, and how this ongoing work came to be regarded as eccentric by practitioners of the dominant contemporary research trends.
In this interview, we discuss the utopian ideals of socialist Zionism, and the influence of Harris upon Chomsky’s political thought. We look at the contradictory facets of Zellig Harris as an individual. And we consider whether rationality is an unreasonable assumption, when it comes to inter-personal dynamics.
In this meticulously-researched biography, Zellig Harris: From American Linguistics to Socialist Zionism (MIT Press, 2011), Robert Barsky casts a great deal more light upon Harris’s story. Exploring his involvement in the Avukah student group in the 1930s and 40s, Barsky shows how Harris not only strove to advance the cause of socialist Zionism, but also shaped the destinies of several influential thinkers. He also traces the course of the revolutionary programme of linguistic enquiry that Harris laid out, inspired by the example of theoretical physics, and how this ongoing work came to be regarded as eccentric by practitioners of the dominant contemporary research trends.
In this interview, we discuss the utopian ideals of socialist Zionism, and the influence of Harris upon Chomsky’s political thought. We look at the contradictory facets of Zellig Harris as an individual. And we consider whether rationality is an unreasonable assumption, when it comes to inter-personal dynamics.
Research Interests:
2012 Killam Public Lecture - Dr. Robert Barsky from Fulbright Canada PLUS 10 months ago NOT YET RATED On Thursday, September 13, 2012, Dr. Robert Barsky, a Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Vanderbilt University, and the... more
2012 Killam Public Lecture - Dr. Robert Barsky
from Fulbright Canada PLUS 10 months ago NOT YET RATED
On Thursday, September 13, 2012, Dr. Robert Barsky, a Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Vanderbilt University, and the founder of AmeriQuests, delivered the 10th Annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam Public Lecture entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the Buildup Towards World War II to the Occupy Movement". The lecture was delivered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
from Fulbright Canada PLUS 10 months ago NOT YET RATED
On Thursday, September 13, 2012, Dr. Robert Barsky, a Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Vanderbilt University, and the founder of AmeriQuests, delivered the 10th Annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers and Constance Killam Public Lecture entitled "The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual: From the Buildup Towards World War II to the Occupy Movement". The lecture was delivered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Research Interests:
Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse from Blackfriars Hall PLUS 2 years ago / via Vimeo Desktop Uploader NOT YET RATED Historical Approaches to International Law, Immigration Policy and Arab-Jewish Rapprochement - Blackfriars, 3rd May... more
Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse
from Blackfriars Hall PLUS 2 years ago / via Vimeo Desktop Uploader NOT YET RATED
Historical Approaches to International Law, Immigration Policy and Arab-Jewish Rapprochement - Blackfriars, 3rd May 2011
The Las Casas Institute welcomes Robert Franklin Barsky (Ph.D. McGill), to Oxford to give a seminar open to those in all departments and colleges. Robert Barsky is Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Director of Graduate Studies in French at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
from Blackfriars Hall PLUS 2 years ago / via Vimeo Desktop Uploader NOT YET RATED
Historical Approaches to International Law, Immigration Policy and Arab-Jewish Rapprochement - Blackfriars, 3rd May 2011
The Las Casas Institute welcomes Robert Franklin Barsky (Ph.D. McGill), to Oxford to give a seminar open to those in all departments and colleges. Robert Barsky is Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Director of Graduate Studies in French at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Research Interests: Israel/Palestine, Zionism, Zionism (History), Religious Zionism, Israel and Zionism, and 8 moreHistory of Palestine and Israel, Anti-Zionism, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Zionist Youth Movements in Argentina, HIstory of Zionism and Jewish Nationalism, Zionist History & Thought, Zionism and the European Left, and Avukah
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
German Expressionism Panel Discussion from Frist Center for the Visual Arts PLUS 9 months ago NOT YET RATED Panel Discussion: “German Expressionism: Exploring the Cultural Makeup of Germany during the Early Twentieth Century”... more
German Expressionism Panel Discussion
from Frist Center for the Visual Arts PLUS 9 months ago NOT YET RATED
Panel Discussion: “German Expressionism: Exploring the Cultural Makeup of Germany during the Early Twentieth Century”
Panelists: Trinita Kennedy, curator, Frist Center, John Hoomes, artistic director, Nashville Opera, and Andy Campbell, education and community engagement program manager, Nashville Symphony
Moderator: Dr. Robert Barsky, Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor (2011–2012), and editor, AmeriQuests, Vanderbilt University
The artistic staff of the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, and the Frist Center joined together for a panel discussion exploring the cultural makeup of Germany during the early twentieth-century German Expressionist movement which spawned a new style of music, art, and theatre. The discussion included examples of art and vocal/musical excerpts, as well as a live musical performance.
This panel discussion was presented in conjunction with the exhibition German Expressionism from the Detroit Institute of Arts on view at the Frist Center from October 19, 2012 through February 10, 2013.
from Frist Center for the Visual Arts PLUS 9 months ago NOT YET RATED
Panel Discussion: “German Expressionism: Exploring the Cultural Makeup of Germany during the Early Twentieth Century”
Panelists: Trinita Kennedy, curator, Frist Center, John Hoomes, artistic director, Nashville Opera, and Andy Campbell, education and community engagement program manager, Nashville Symphony
Moderator: Dr. Robert Barsky, Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor (2011–2012), and editor, AmeriQuests, Vanderbilt University
The artistic staff of the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, and the Frist Center joined together for a panel discussion exploring the cultural makeup of Germany during the early twentieth-century German Expressionist movement which spawned a new style of music, art, and theatre. The discussion included examples of art and vocal/musical excerpts, as well as a live musical performance.
This panel discussion was presented in conjunction with the exhibition German Expressionism from the Detroit Institute of Arts on view at the Frist Center from October 19, 2012 through February 10, 2013.
Research Interests:
There are many challenges facing educators who hope to provide a sufficiently comprehensive overview of the various texts and concepts associated with forced migration. Whether the course is formally taught in a law school, or in any of... more
There are many challenges facing educators who hope to provide a sufficiently comprehensive overview of the various texts and concepts associated with forced migration. Whether the course is formally taught in a law school, or in any of the array of university departments that teach migration, it is difficult to account for the wide range of historical, anthropological, political, sociological, ethical, legal, humanistic, and, therefore, interdisciplinary perspectives that necessarily permeate the study of forced migration. Fortunately, Patricia Hynes’ contribution to Routledge’s Rethinking Development series, Introducing Forced Migration, provides the ground upon which to erect a serious and well-rounded class, that can address the many complex and interrelated issues pertaining to refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, and persons who have been smuggled or trafficked.
Research Interests:
This slim, accessible volume provides a timely overview of immigration enforcement and the agencies responsible for carrying it out in the United States (US), with emphasis upon changes enacted in the first 18 months of Donald Trump’s... more
This slim, accessible volume provides a timely overview of immigration enforcement and the agencies responsible for carrying it out in the United States (US), with emphasis upon changes enacted in the first 18 months of Donald Trump’s presidency. These changes have occurred at a breakneck pace, with new developments either proposed, challenged in the courts, rejected by lower court decisions, or upheld somewhere up the judicial chain on an almost daily basis. As such, while we can applaud New York University Press for putting this book into production so quickly, it is nevertheless inevitable that some of the details of prevailing legislation will be out of date by the time the reader...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Book review of Teresa Hayter's 'Open Borders'
Research Interests:
Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia Eve Lester, Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2018) xiii + 373 pp, ISBN... more
Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia
Eve Lester, Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2018) xiii + 373 pp, ISBN 978-1-107-17327-9 (hbk)
Robert F Barsky
International Journal of Refugee Law, Volume 30, Issue 3, 30 December 2018, Pages 560–563, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eey040
Published: 13 February 2019
Eve Lester, Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2018) xiii + 373 pp, ISBN 978-1-107-17327-9 (hbk)
Robert F Barsky
International Journal of Refugee Law, Volume 30, Issue 3, 30 December 2018, Pages 560–563, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eey040
Published: 13 February 2019
Research Interests:
Book review of Teresa Hayter's 'Open Borders'
Research Interests:
Cohen-Cole's book discusses the "open-mind" attitude that was promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and, moreover, the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America. It is a valuable supplement to... more
Cohen-Cole's book discusses the "open-mind" attitude that was promoted to address the threat posed by Communism and, moreover, the rise of social conformity, homogeneity, and mass consumption in America. It is a valuable supplement to existing research into this period and adds components that I find eye-opening and provocative. The open mind project that is described in this book features many individuals associated with the milieus of Harris, Chomsky, and Avukah, and in its psychological dimensions it intersects with related efforts promoted by Harris and by the many Avukahites who had interest in psychoanalysis, the cognitive sciences, and Artificial Intelligence. Furthermore, it discusses a crucial period when Chomsky began to articulate an approach to the human mind that was opposed to Harris's structuralism and information theory since these were premised upon a behaviorist model for the human brain. And so with the disclaimer that Cohen-Cole's work feeds directly into questions and concerns that occupy me on a range of fronts, I will now provide an assessment that is reflected through those lenses, and a rather rambling work in progress that takes Cohen-Cole's book as a springboard toward a whole host of questions and issues I consider crucial at this time.
Research Interests:
Chris Knight’s new book begins with the unpromising statement that he, in encountering Chomsky’s work, would have to “put aside” his “own cultural prejudices and assumptions” to “avoid dismissing every strange belief as incomprehensible... more
Chris Knight’s new book begins with the unpromising statement that he, in encountering Chomsky’s work, would have to “put aside” his “own cultural prejudices and assumptions” to “avoid dismissing every strange belief as incomprehensible nonsense.” The reader has to wonder where Knight has been for the past half-century to view Chomskian linguistic work as though it was a “previously unknown tribe,” and the reader familiar even slightly with Chomsky might be very concerned that Knight prejudges the “doctrines” encountered therein as “absurd”—unless of course Knight is a great expert on language research that has been undertaken for the past couple of thousand years. No such luck. He has had “no training in theoretical linguistics,” by his own admission, but is nonetheless confident enough in his lack of knowledge to talk about a “tribe” of military-funded linguists that “clustered around Chomsky in the formative period of his career.” What is he talking about? Would he say the same if he were to encounter, say, the “strange tribe” of physicists studying string theory, and then learn that physicists also receive lots of funding via the military from the U.S. government? He seems to be aware of his own biases, though, as he immediately claims to have no interest in conspiracy theories, and thus doesn’t believe for a moment that the “Pentagon’s initial funding of Chomsky’s ground-breaking work” was part of any “master plan.” This is a good thing, I presume, since the Pentagon’s funding of, say, aeronautical engineering, might otherwise fall under a master plan of, say, destroying the passenger train industry. But as it turns out, his arguments are even more fallacious.
Research Interests:
Guest post by Robert F. Barsky, professor of Literature and of Law at Vanderbilt University. Robert is the author of Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and the Plight of People Deemed 'Illegal' (Routledge,... more
Guest post by Robert F. Barsky, professor of Literature and of Law at Vanderbilt University. Robert is the author of Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and the Plight of People Deemed 'Illegal' (Routledge, 2016), as well as a broad array of works on Convention refugees including Arguing and Justifying: Assessing the Convention Refugees’ Choice of Moment, Motive and Host Country (Ashgate 2001). Robert is on Twitter @robertbarsky.
Review of Frontex and Non-Refoulement: The International Responsibility of the EU, by Roberta Mungianu (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Review of Frontex and Non-Refoulement: The International Responsibility of the EU, by Roberta Mungianu (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Research Interests:
The Law of Refugee Status, second edition. By James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster The Law of Refugee Status, second edition. By James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (4th printing... more
The Law of Refugee Status, second edition. By James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster
The Law of Refugee Status, second edition. By James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (4th printing 2015). lxxxi + 693 pp. $180.00 (hbk); $65.00 (pb); $52.00 (Ebook)
Robert F Barsky
Journal of Refugee Studies, Volume 30, Issue 4, 1 December 2017, Pages 638–640, https://doi-org.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/10.1093/jrs/fex036
Published: 14 December 2017
The Law of Refugee Status, second edition. By James C. Hathaway and Michelle Foster . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (4th printing 2015). lxxxi + 693 pp. $180.00 (hbk); $65.00 (pb); $52.00 (Ebook)
Robert F Barsky
Journal of Refugee Studies, Volume 30, Issue 4, 1 December 2017, Pages 638–640, https://doi-org.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/10.1093/jrs/fex036
Published: 14 December 2017
Research Interests:
Guest post by Robert F. Barsky, professor of Literature and of Law at Vanderbilt University. Robert is the author of Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and the Plight of People Deemed 'Illegal' (Routledge,... more
Guest post by Robert F. Barsky, professor of Literature and of Law at Vanderbilt University. Robert is the author of Undocumented Immigrants in an Era of Arbitrary Law: The Flight and the Plight of People Deemed 'Illegal' (Routledge, 2016), as well as a broad array of works on Convention refugees including Arguing and Justifying: Assessing the Convention Refugees’ Choice of Moment, Motive and Host Country (Ashgate 2001). Robert is on Twitter @robertbarsky.
Research Interests:
This readable and concise biography is short, and pays particular attention to specific details of a life recorded elsewhere, including in Guggenheim's memoir Out of This Century, which first appeared in 1946 to significant negative... more
This readable and concise biography is short, and pays particular attention to specific details of a life recorded elsewhere, including in Guggenheim's memoir Out of This Century, which first appeared in 1946 to significant negative acclaim.
Research Interests:
Book review for Review 19
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Book review.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Part of the pleasure of reading Nabokov is the confrontation with uncomfortable truths, both in a kind of raw form, but also in forms of puzzles, so that the reader is often uncertain as to what kind of questions are being posed, or which... more
Part of the pleasure of reading Nabokov is the confrontation with uncomfortable truths, both in a kind of raw form, but also in forms of puzzles, so that the reader is often uncertain as to what kind of questions are being posed, or which links are being made, until careful consideration of the situation at hand. Readers are quite literally seduced by luscious prose, provocative images, and fantastical juxtapositions, a kind of Barthes-like “jouissance” that begins with some level of uncertainty as to what precisely is occurring in any given scene, and follows up with titillating, provocative and sometimes shocking revelations. The puzzle-like quality of the text also leads readers into the processes described by Umberto Eco, in Lector in Fabula, whereby the careful cataloguing of detail, arranging of facts, and inquiries into meanings of particular words or events, gives the reader a task for which she is rewarded with scientific, historical or literary insights that are satisfying, both in themselves, and for the ways that they propel the narrative forward. In this respect, the science of Nabokov’s art underlies the whole project, and this new and magnificent work, Fine Lines: Vladimir Nabokov’s Scientific Art, carefully explains why this is so; in so doing, it brings readers to recognize with awe the breadth and depth of Nabokov’s genius by providing the kinds of detail that is required in order to explain and valorize his scientific accomplishments.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Jamie Nace Cohen-Cole. The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. 397 pp. $36.00 (e-book), ISBN 978-0-226-09233-1; $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-226-09216-4. Reviewed by... more
Jamie Nace Cohen-Cole. The Open Mind: Cold War Politics and the Sciences of Human Nature. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2014. 397 pp. $36.00 (e-book), ISBN 978-0-226-09233-1; $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-226-09216-4.
Reviewed by Robert F. Barsky (Vanderbilt University)
Published on H-Socialisms (June, 2015)
Commissioned by Gary Roth
of Chicago Press, 2014. 397 pp. $36.00 (e-book), ISBN 978-0-226-09233-1; $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-226-09216-4.
Reviewed by Robert F. Barsky (Vanderbilt University)
Published on H-Socialisms (June, 2015)
Commissioned by Gary Roth
Research Interests:
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el título... more
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el título de Noam Chomsky, una vida de discrepancia y con la traducción de Isabel González-Gallarza. El autor, Robert Barsky, que es profesor de lengua y literatura inglesa en la universidad canadiense de Ontario, ha escrito obras sobre crítica literaria. En la confección de esta biografía Barsky ha dedicado varios años de investigación, ha mantenido una nutrida correspondencia con Chomsky –que inició en 1991– y ha consultado archivos de diversas instituciones. El resultado es un texto que abarca las facetas del lingüista y del activista de izquierdas.
Research Interests:
This article argues that debate on Bill C-31 should, in fact, focus upon the fact that it is impossible to determine the veracity of refugee claims using current methods of adjudication, that Canadian refugee and immigration legislation... more
This article argues that debate on Bill C-31 should, in fact, focus upon the fact that it is impossible to determine the veracity of refugee claims using current methods of adjudication, that Canadian refugee and immigration legislation is incompatible with the international conventions, declarations, and norms upon which it is said to be based, and the absurdity of restricting the free movement of peoples. Arguing that the immigration and refugee system already favours free movement for the rich and the well-connected, and that the proposed legislation will further punish those who already suffer greatly from current restrictions, the author suggests that Canada should work to assist those who desire to move by eliminating obstacles such as third-country clauses, visa restrictions, and prohibitively priced airline tickets, and that rather than penalize those who assist in people’s natural desire to move around, Canadian officials should help find ways to encourage the movement of p...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
fundamental tension" within nations that receive them. This tension pits governments and business groups interested in the economic benefits immigrants can generate against native groups concerned about social cohesiveness. Muller... more
fundamental tension" within nations that receive them. This tension pits governments and business groups interested in the economic benefits immigrants can generate against native groups concerned about social cohesiveness. Muller examines this tension at two levels. His stated objective is descriptive: "to examine the effects of immigrants on the native population" (p. 6) of the United States. Yet, clearly he also hopes to influence the debate over immigration policy. Muller begins by reviewing "the unending debate" over U.S. immigration from efforts "to expand [the) population base" (p. 19) during the colonial era to the debate over national quotas and employer sanctions that culminated in the 1986 legislation. He then assesses impacts immigrants have had on cities, first in economic, then in more societal terms. His economic assessment centers on contributions immigrants have made to "the prosperity of cities" from the early nineteenth century to the early post-war years, then to "the revitalization of cities" since 1970. Throughout, he emphasizes that immigrants contributed by taking "any job, however harsh the working conditions" (p. 72), thus "[increasing) the demand for skilled labor, professionals, and clerical workers positions that were filled largely by native-born workers" (p. 89). Muller essentially dismisses "the price of immigration." For example, based on 1990 census data, he implies that concerns among blacks are unfounded because, among other things, "there is a strong positive correlation between the percentage of foreign-born [in an SMSA] and black household incomes (holding other factors constant)" (p. 174). "On balance," he concludes, "the inflow of [immigrants] during the 1970s and 1980s was an economic plus" (p. 221). In contrast, his treatment of immigration's implications for "social and political stability" isessentially noncommittal since he examines stability almost solely as a matter of public debate without seriously examining stability itself: what it means, what it requires, etc. Muller concludes with a largely favorable assessment of "immigrants and America's future" (p. 319). Muller's analysis exhibits several serious weaknesses. No organizing theme or principie guides his assessment of the effects of immigration past. Readers are leftwondering how Muller distinguishes topics he addresses from those he omits. He does not justify his unstated premise that insights about immigration past can be applied to current debate, a premise on which Vernon BriggsJr.'s investigation of structural change in employment patterns within the U.S. economy (ImmigrationPolicy and theAmerican Labor Force, 1984, p. 250-260) casts considerable doubt. Letcher's approach to legislation "it should have clear benefits for a substantial portion of the population" (p. 6) ignores those the legislation hurts, aswell as adverse effects losers might cause winners. He repeatedly makes claims favorable to his argument most notably that "new immigrants stimulated business activity" (e.g., p. 101)without providing either adequate substantiation or comparison to other business stimuli. And, at least one of his projections is based on an assumption that he himself undermines. He assumes there is no relationship between immigrants moving into a city and middle-class people moving out to suburbs; then in a footnote he acknowledges that "there isanecdotal evidence" that such a relationship exists (p. 117, fn 6). For these and other reasons, Muller's work will be most useful to those who share his favorable view of immigration.
Research Interests:
This article introduces the current quests of AmeriQuests, and describes preliminary findings from a research project on incarcerated migrants.
Research Interests:
Paul' s letter of thanks to the Philippians, written on receiving their gift through Epaphroditus while he was a prisoner of the Romans in 60AD, is integrated into the King James New Testament as 'The Epistle of Paul the Apostle... more
Paul' s letter of thanks to the Philippians, written on receiving their gift through Epaphroditus while he was a prisoner of the Romans in 60AD, is integrated into the King James New Testament as 'The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.'2 Therein, Paul invokes a kind of symbiotic relation with an absent other which culminates in the desire that his addressees become, quite literally, situated in the same place as him by being 'of the same mind' : 'If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.'3 This desire requires a metaphysical link of humility, which Paul likens to what Jesus did when he 'emptied himself,' and then took on human form:4 'Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men.'5 The idea that such symbioses can occur presupposes a self-identity between purpose and action which is premised upon some sense of faith, proven by ensuring that the body of the slave, rather than the idea of the slave as God, be 'grasped.' Or, from a rhetorical standpoint, Paul's dream is for the formulation of arguments that seamlessly speak to the universal audience, overcoming the 'gap' between speaker and listener, writer and reader, intention and result. For Chai'm Perelman, from whom Michel Meyer inherited the torch 1. I realized in returning to these ideas, originally formulated in my earliest work on Mikhail Bakhtin and in a tribute I wrote for a conference in honor of Michael Holquist, that the ideas expressed herein have been on my mind and in my body for a long time; they have finally found form and passionate meaning with Marsha. 2. See Peter Oakes, Philippians: From People to Letter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An introduction to the special issue on Quebec and Canada in the Americas, and a reflection upon the nature of the open journal format in an age of irresponsibility.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
These papers were first presented to the MIT Communications Forum entitled “Public Intellectuals and the Academy.” The authors have aggrandized and edited their respective contributions with an eye to creating a collection of works and... more
These papers were first presented to the MIT Communications Forum entitled “Public Intellectuals and the Academy.” The authors have aggrandized and edited their respective contributions with an eye to creating a collection of works and commentaries that approach this complex subject from a range of perspectives, East and West.
Research Interests:
This article reflects upon the approach that Chomsky takes to a broad array of fields and work, and the "effect" that he has, as a thinker and a catalyst, upon a broad array of people within and beyond the ivory tower. Some of... more
This article reflects upon the approach that Chomsky takes to a broad array of fields and work, and the "effect" that he has, as a thinker and a catalyst, upon a broad array of people within and beyond the ivory tower. Some of the central themes of Chomsky's work are herein elucidated, alongside of some key events which have marked him, and his many effects, across the spectrum of activists and intellectuals who look to him for guidance or else as a figure to be reviled and attacked.
Research Interests:
Includes descriptive metadata provided by producer in MP3 file: "Hear Robert Barsky, professor of French and comparative literature and author of two books about political dissenter and linguist Noam Chomsky, speak about his new book... more
Includes descriptive metadata provided by producer in MP3 file: "Hear Robert Barsky, professor of French and comparative literature and author of two books about political dissenter and linguist Noam Chomsky, speak about his new book 'The Chomsky Effect: A Catalyst for Social Justice Beyond the Ivory Tower.' The lecture was recorded on Oct. 11, 2007, at Vanderbilt Law School." The talk was given as part of the work of the Social Justice Center of the Law School.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History and Catastrophism
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el título... more
Peninsula (2005) Se ha hecho esperar mucho la edición en lengua castellana de la biografía de Chomsky escrita por Robert Barsky en 1997, Noam Chomsky, a life of dissent. Pero al fin se ha publicado en la editorial Península, con el título de Noam Chomsky, una vida de discrepancia y con la traducción de Isabel González-Gallarza. El autor, Robert Barsky, que es profesor de lengua y literatura inglesa en la universidad canadiense de Ontario, ha escrito obras sobre crítica literaria. En la confección de esta biografía Barsky ha dedicado varios años de investigación, ha mantenido una nutrida correspondencia con Chomsky –que inició en 1991– y ha consultado archivos de diversas instituciones. El resultado es un texto que abarca las facetas del lingüista y del activista de izquierdas.
Research Interests:
An overview of the history and direction of the journal.
This new issue is monumental in a host of ways, most notably since it marks our tenth year of publishing on-line, open access and peer-reviewed work for a growing audience of readers in more than 120 countries. We continue to explore new... more
This new issue is monumental in a host of ways, most notably since it marks our tenth year of publishing on-line, open access and peer-reviewed work for a growing audience of readers in more than 120 countries. We continue to explore new ways of providing valuable work to our readers, who now number in the tens of thousands, and for this issue we’re trying out yet another new pathway in this regard: the publishing of a first draft of a full-length book, by Julius Grey.
The temptation may be great to just jump ahead in search of the documents, the quotations, the plain and sometimes delightful anecdotes, shutting out the voice that guides us throughout the long visit. Indeed, our cicerone sounds very... more
The temptation may be great to just jump ahead in search of the documents, the quotations, the plain and sometimes delightful anecdotes, shutting out the voice that guides us throughout the long visit. Indeed, our cicerone sounds very much like a typical nineteenth-century flâneur ...
Research Interests:
The notion of social cohesion implies the definition of a modern society as inclusive and founded upon a sense of communality and responsibility of its members towards each other. It therefore insists on a necessary participation to... more
The notion of social cohesion implies the definition of a modern society as inclusive and founded upon a sense of communality and responsibility of its members towards each other. It therefore insists on a necessary participation to public affairs, to the labor force, to ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The following is a discussion of Patrick Deane, ed., History in Our Hands: A Critical Anthology of Writings on Literature, Culture and Politics from the 1930s (London & New York: Leicester University Press, 1998); Martin Jay, Cultural... more
The following is a discussion of Patrick Deane, ed., History in Our Hands: A Critical Anthology of Writings on Literature, Culture and Politics from the 1930s (London & New York: Leicester University Press, 1998); Martin Jay, Cultural Semantics:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
entitled Public Intellectuals and the Academy. The authors have aggrandized and edited their respective contributions with an eye to creating a collection of works and commentaries that approach this complex subject from a range of... more
entitled Public Intellectuals and the Academy. The authors have aggrandized and edited their respective contributions with an eye to creating a collection of works and commentaries that approach this complex subject from a range of perspectives, East and West.
Research Interests:
The last Labour government treated refugees and migrants with even greater harshness than its predecessors. It more than doubled the number of asylum seekers locked up in prisons and detention centres at any one time, and announced its... more
The last Labour government treated refugees and migrants with even greater harshness than its predecessors. It more than doubled the number of asylum seekers locked up in prisons and detention centres at any one time, and announced its intention to more than double them ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The notion of social cohesion implies the definition of a modern society as inclusive and founded upon a sense of communality and responsibility of its members towards each other. It therefore insists on a necessary participation to... more
The notion of social cohesion implies the definition of a modern society as inclusive and founded upon a sense of communality and responsibility of its members towards each other. It therefore insists on a necessary participation to public affairs, to the labor force, to ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The temptation may be great to just jump ahead in search of the documents, the quotations, the plain and sometimes delightful anecdotes, shutting out the voice that guides us throughout the long visit. Indeed, our cicerone sounds very... more
The temptation may be great to just jump ahead in search of the documents, the quotations, the plain and sometimes delightful anecdotes, shutting out the voice that guides us throughout the long visit. Indeed, our cicerone sounds very much like a typical nineteenth-century flâneur ...
Research Interests:
... In Bakhtin&amp;#x27;s case, such an appeal is made to normative precepts which are ultimately based on his Page 17. 8 The dialogics of critique idiosyncratic philosophical anthropology and a utopian conception of the dialogic... more
... In Bakhtin&amp;#x27;s case, such an appeal is made to normative precepts which are ultimately based on his Page 17. 8 The dialogics of critique idiosyncratic philosophical anthropology and a utopian conception of the dialogic community. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This book is a description of the process of constructing a productive Other for the purpose of being admitted to Canada as a Convention refugee. The whole claiming procedure is analyzed with respect to two actual cases, and... more
This book is a description of the process of constructing a productive Other for the purpose of being admitted to Canada as a Convention refugee. The whole claiming procedure is analyzed with respect to two actual cases, and contextualized by reference to pertinent national ...
Research Interests:
In times of urban crisis, increasing informal settlements, homelessness, tent cities and shanty towns, academic critique is pushed forward to oppose neoliberal urban policies and to support the &amp;#x27;cry and... more
In times of urban crisis, increasing informal settlements, homelessness, tent cities and shanty towns, academic critique is pushed forward to oppose neoliberal urban policies and to support the &amp;#x27;cry and demand&amp;#x27;for a just city and the right to use it. Since Lefebvre&amp;#x27;s work ...
Research Interests:
This book deals with the British refugee policy and it's outcome in Hong Kong, which led to the administrative detention (detention without a legal procedure) of a large number of children, women and men for a prolonged period of... more
This book deals with the British refugee policy and it's outcome in Hong Kong, which led to the administrative detention (detention without a legal procedure) of a large number of children, women and men for a prolonged period of time, with untold misery and other ...
Research Interests:
The last Labour government treated refugees and migrants with even greater harshness than its predecessors. It more than doubled the number of asylum seekers locked up in prisons and detention centres at any one time, and announced its... more
The last Labour government treated refugees and migrants with even greater harshness than its predecessors. It more than doubled the number of asylum seekers locked up in prisons and detention centres at any one time, and announced its intention to more than double them ...
Research Interests:
Copyright © General Introduction, Introductions to Parts I and II, chapters 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10: Librairie Artheme Fayard 1982 Copyright © Appendix to Part I, chapters?, 8,9,11: Pierre Bourdieu 1983,1977, 1981,1984,1984 Copyright ...
Research Interests:
Profession is a journal of opinion about and for the modern language profession. The editor selects articles covering a range of topics of professional concern, trying to give a voice to MLA members working in diverse subject areas and... more
Profession is a journal of opinion about and for the modern language profession. The editor selects articles covering a range of topics of professional concern, trying to give a voice to MLA members working in diverse subject areas and situations. Accordingly, the editor invites essays of 1,800 to 5,000 words on current intellectual, curricular, and professional trends and issues that are of importance to the field, essays that can be read with interest and profit by many, if not all, MLA members. Letters to the editor and short comments on ...