Publications and Features

Recent works by Center staff

Center Publications

Majority Rules: The Battle for Ballot Initiatives

Majority Rules is the Center's first publicly released report. Written by Benjamin Case and Michael McQuarrie, the ballot initiatives project and report explore the current fight over voters’ access to the ballot initiative process.

OFFICIAL REPORT

The Free State of George Floyd

Created in collaboration with the documentary team at FLOWSTATE films and the community at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, our Center has created a short film about the events of Floyd's murder and the subsequent uprising and memorialization effort led by the Minneapolis community. It documents the rise and life of the autonomous protest zone, redefining what community safety looks like.

WATCH

Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

Ben Case's 2022 book Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence works to bridge the divide between academia and activism, articulating the variety of ways in which people struggle for liberation.

Book Launch Event

The Green New Deal and the Future of Work

This 2022 release by Craig Calhoun and Benjamin Fong brings together leading experts to explore the possibilities of the Green New Deal, emphasizing the future of work. Together, they examine transformations that are already underway and put forth bold new proposals that can provide jobs while reducing carbon consumption—building a world that is sustainable both economically and ecologically.

Project Page

Majority Rules: the Battle for Ballot Initiatives

Majority Rules: the Battle for Ballot Initiatives is the Center's first publicly released report. Written by Benjamin Case and Michael McQuarrie, the Ballot Initiatives Project explores the current fight over voters’ access to the ballot initiative process.

Project Page

Books and Book Chapters

Calhoun, C., & Fong, B. Y. (Eds.). (2022). The Green New Deal and the Future of Work (p. 384 Pages). Columbia University Press.

Calhoun, C., Gaonkar, D. P., & Taylor, C. (2022). Degenerations of Democracy. Harvard University Press.

Case, B. (2022). Antisemitism and the Origins of Totalitarianism. In S. Burley (Ed.), ¡No Pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis (pp. 357–376). AK Press.

Case, B. (2022) Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence. AK Press.

Fong, B. Y. (2023) Quick Fixes: Drugs and America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge. Verso Books.

Markoff, J. Lazar, H., Case, B., & Burridge, D. (2024). The Anarchist Turn in Twenty-First Century Leftwing Activism. Cambridge University Press Elements Series in Contentious Politics.

McQuarrie, M. (2020). Race, Participation, and Institutional Transformation in the Neoliberal City Black Politics in Cleveland, 1965– 2010. In A. J. Diamond & T. J. Sugrue (Eds.), Neoliberal Cities (pp. 173–206). New York University Press.

Shabazz, R. (2023) Biography of a Sound-- Prince, Place, and the Hidden History of the Minneapolis Sound. University of Texas Press.

Scholarly Articles

Banerjee, T., & Case, B. (2020). The Leverage of Protest: Market, Media, and Reputational Disruption in Social Movement Success. Sociological Forum, 35(1), 95–125.

Case, B. (2017). Social Movement Ecology and Its Implications: Unpacking the Natural Metaphor. Berkeley Journal of Sociology. 61: 76-87.

Case, B. (2021). Contentious Effervescence: The Subjective Experience of Rioting. Mobilization, 26(2), 179–196.

Case, B., & Stribling-Uss, J. (2023). The Revolution Will Be Encrypted: A Strategy of Leaks and Ciphers. Berkeley Journal of Sociology. 64: 110-27

da Cruz, N. F., Rode, P., & McQuarrie, M. (2019). New urban governance: A review of current themes and future priorities. Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(1), 1–19.

Esch, M. C. (2023). Movers and Shakers: Social Movement Learning and the North Hollywood Stripper Strike. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Fong, B. Y., & Naschek, M. (2021). NGOism: The Politics of the Third Sector. Catalyst, 5(1).

Hernandez, J. (2023). The Federal Student Loan Pause: Assessing Its Impact on Healthcare and Retirement Spending. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Knowles, E. D., McDermott, M., & Richeson, J. A. (2023). Varieties of White Working-Class Identity. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302221144735

Offenbacher, C., & Fong, B. Y. (2022). Occupy in Retrospect. Catalyst, 5(4).

Payraudeau, M. (2021). Delivering Precarity: Food Delivery Gig Workers, the Façade of Flexibility, and the Future of Work. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

"Democratization is a process, and because they are democratizing political decision-making, the fight over ballot initiatives is more important than ever."

– Ben Case, Majority Rules

Public-Facing Articles

Case, B. (2020.) "The Thailand Uprising: Rubber Ducks Against Royalty." ROAR.

Case, B. (2021). Speaking of Riots: The Complicated Reality of Violence vs. Nonviolence. Political Violence at a Glance.

Case, B. (2022). The coming era of direct action. Waging Nonviolence.

Case, B. (2022). Initiative Campaigns Bridge Partisan Divides. Convergence.

Case, B. (2023). “Ballot Initiatives Are Critical to the Left’s Strategy and Ohio Has Proven It.” Jacobin.

Case, B. (2023). "Ohio's Antidemocratic Abortion Referendum Failed, but More Like It Are Coming." Jacobin.

Case, B. (2024). There are reasons to believe a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is closer than ever. The Conversation. February 6.

Case, B. (2024). "We Can Have Cop City, or We Can Have Democracy." Jacobin.

Case, B., Weintraub, A., and Gold, J. (2021). "We Are Jews from Pittsburgh: Please Don't Use the Tree of Life Tragedy for Political Gain." The Forward.

Case, B., & McQuarrie, M. (2022). Ballot initiatives reveal a battle between voters and legislators. London School of Economics | USAPP.

Case, B., & McQuarrie, M. (2022). The Left Won Big on Ballot Initiatives. That’s Why They’re Under Attack. Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2022/11/state-ballot-measures-abortion-marijuana-medicaid

Esch, M. (2023). 5 Lessons from the North Hollywood Stripper Strike. Waging Nonviolence.

Esch, M. (2024). Abortion Advocates Should Turn to Direct Democracy. Jacobin.

Fong, B.Y. (2020). Opinion | Teaching Racial Justice Isn’t Racial Justice. The New York Times.

Fong, B.Y. (2021). Knowledge Is Not Power: Why Cigarettes Still Appeal. Current Affairs.

Fong, B.Y. (2022). The Psychedelic Renaissance Is on the Verge of an Uneasy Enlightenment. Jacobin.

Fong, B.Y. (2023). How Can Workers Organize Against Capital Today? Catalyst.

Fong, B.Y. (2023). The Jobs and Freedom Strategy. Catalyst.

Fong, B.Y. (2023). You Should Know About Labor Leader John Brophy. Jacobin.

Fong, B.Y. (2024). The Art of the Green New Deal. Jacobin.

Fong, B. Y., and Case, B. (2022). “Taxing the Rich Requires More Than Policy.” Common Dreams.

McQuarrie, M. & Case, B. (2022). Ballot Initiatives Are the Hidden Voting Rights Issue in This Election Cycle. Jacobin.

McQuarrie, M., & Case, B. (2022). Silencing the majority: Citizen initiatives are under attack in Arizona. AZ Mirror.