Personal


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In his recent article for Jacobin, Cedric Johnson tosses off an eloquent description/demolition of the historical roots and political insufficiency of white liberal self-flagellation: “Unfortunately, the arrival [with James Baldwin] of the black intellectual as gadfly and conscience of the nation in the television era bore a new set of problems. Too many well-meaning whites mistook their guilt and pleasure of self-flagellation for genuine unity with blacks and authentic antiracist political commitment — in other words, solidarity. That problem of replacing politics with public therapy endures to this day, and it flourishes in a context where social media linkages surrogate other historical forms of social interchange and collective action. Antiracist liberalism thrives in a context where the performance of self-loathing, outrage, and concern are easily traded public currency, instead of the more socially costly politics of public sacrifice and the redistribution of societal resources. Like Baldwin, I think Coates fulfills a similar […]

The white confessional gesture isn’t solidarity – and it isn’t ...


So this guy has a canoe for sale. It’s a good thing too, because the river is flooding. The water is rising fast and you’re going to need to navigate it. You need a good boat. You go to check out the canoe, and it’s clear that it’s something special. They spent years refining their design – for speed, weight, stability, practicality, aesthetics. Searched far and wide for the strongest, lightest, wood, to painstakingly mill and shape and sand. Researched the finest adhesives and resins that modern technology has to offer, to bind it together and seal it. This is a boat that could last a lifetime, with proper care. It’s versatile, powerful, and durable. It’s not perfect, but it’s beautiful. Just as you are getting ready to shake hands and seal the deal, the guy says: “And if that’s not enough, buddy, get this – the canoe can fly.” Debates […]

The Parable of the Canoe


I’ve been stingy (read: lazy) with making my conference presentations available to the public. I’ve been working on that, and you can now access most of them through links on the Publications/CV page right here (or via the drop-down menu under Publications up top). I’m archiving conference papers, posters, presentation slides, et al., on researchgate.com – so you may need to open a free account to download. RG does a good job tracking readers, downloads, sharing, etc., so thanks for putting up with registering if you weren’t otherwise inclined to do so.

Backlog of articles and presentations becoming available…



In the heart-poundingly dramatic realm of website improvements, I… …finally started consolidating links to interviews and talks I’ve done to a Media page. …updated my Contact page to encourage the kinds of emails I’m really excited about, while steering common questions toward a Resources page. …even fulfilled a minor life-goal of creating a page with helpful suggestions for those who are about to engage in Asking Busy Strangers for Help on the Internet. As my old adviser John Todd liked likes to say, “Onward and upward!”  

Media, Resources, and Contacts


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Robert Wallace is an evolutionary biologist and social epidemiologist, and co-author of the mindblowing Farming Human Pathogens (2009). I had the pleasure of meeting him at a recent symposium in honor of the great ecologist, systems thinker, and activist, Richard Levins (on the occasion of his 85th birthday). In a recent blog post, Wallace addresses the recent – and ongoing – outbreak of avian influenza in the US. In this short essay he dissects the public discussion and institutional response to the outbreak, and lays bare the economic and ecological issues surrounding them. Wallace make a very compelling case that industry and government are responding in ways that serves industry first – and the public not at all. Originally posted June 10, 2015 on Farming Pathogens: Made in Minnesota Industrial turkey and chicken in Minnesota, and other states Midwest and South, have been hit by a highly pathogenic strain of […]

Avian Influences: The Politics of the Mid-West Bird Flu Outbreak


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This was originally a FB post. It resonated with some people and generated some good discussion, so I’m bringing it over here to the blog. It’s not as developed as what I usually post – but this way it won’t get lost in the misty depths of my FB wall. (Also, maybe if I let myself post shorter/rawer stuff, I’ll post more?!)   I worry about statements like these. It’s tempting to console ourselves with all kinds of individualism (and small-groupism) when we live in a culture where the fabric of reciprocity and solidarity has been most comprehensively unwoven. But we’re getting duped if we believe we face the question of individuals (or small groups) versus movements for making change – let’s ask instead how we as individuals come alive in groups and communities that are embedded, with scores of others, in movements as vast as the problems we face. […]

The Problem with Small Groups



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My research travel has taken a slight detour. I’ve had to fly home to deal with an urgent, but non-life-threatening, medical situation. I’m now recovering well after minor surgery, and will be getting back out on the road shortly. It was frustrating to abandon part of an itinerary that I had put so much time into assembling, farm by farm, but… sometimes you just have to roll with it. Ultimately, I’m just happy to be healing well and getting back out there. Hopefully I will find a way to get back out to that stretch of southern Oregon to central California before all is said and done. But I’ll be going east before I go back west. Next weekend, I’ll be presenting twice at the Yale Food Systems Symposium. I’m happy to be sitting on a panel on Permaculture in Academia, as well as giving a presentation entitled “Recovering the Future: Food System Transition […]

From the field – and the sickbed. And then the ...


I’m preparing for my preliminary exams, which are next week. I’ve gone subterranen until after they are done. I will be tweeting from my cave, however.

Where am I?