Because we're dorks, Erin and I recently went on a date night to an Alex Vitale lecture at PSU. (Because we're not *only* dorks, we went to a hilarious "Sisters of Mercy" comedy sketch thing after the lecture.) Vitale reflected on why "progressive" cities are backtracking on abolition/defunding, and he argued that way too many progressive leaders fail to recognize and challenge the political economy within which policing resides. Committed to the basic contours of that political economy, such "progressives" inevitably revert to policing to serve the interests of those invested (literally) in our neoliberal arrangements. He said nothing of "religion," but one suspects Vitale has been formed by Catholicism. It was something to hear him summoning a large audience of Portlanders to demand a more compassionate political economy and not to settle for less.
Thanks for this powerful essay. Include it in that book you're eventually going to send me? ;-)
Fascinating and thoughtful, Melissa. As someone who finds pacifism appealing and yet often evasive, this was helpful and has given me much to think about.
Because we're dorks, Erin and I recently went on a date night to an Alex Vitale lecture at PSU. (Because we're not *only* dorks, we went to a hilarious "Sisters of Mercy" comedy sketch thing after the lecture.) Vitale reflected on why "progressive" cities are backtracking on abolition/defunding, and he argued that way too many progressive leaders fail to recognize and challenge the political economy within which policing resides. Committed to the basic contours of that political economy, such "progressives" inevitably revert to policing to serve the interests of those invested (literally) in our neoliberal arrangements. He said nothing of "religion," but one suspects Vitale has been formed by Catholicism. It was something to hear him summoning a large audience of Portlanders to demand a more compassionate political economy and not to settle for less.
Thanks for this powerful essay. Include it in that book you're eventually going to send me? ;-)
Fascinating and thoughtful, Melissa. As someone who finds pacifism appealing and yet often evasive, this was helpful and has given me much to think about.
Thanks Melissa—the “righteous violence” called for by some folks needs your voice
Have you read or seen, How to Blow up a Pipeline? I'd be very interested in a part two to this essay on violence that reacts to climate change.