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Recent works by Center staff

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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.

The Port Strike Called the Shipping Companies’ Bluff

In their piece surrounding the recent longshoremen's strike, the CWD's former Activist-in-Residence (Scott Jenkins) and current Associate Director (Ben Fong) show readers that shipping giants have always had the money to pay workers what they are owed, the workers' strike just made it impossible for them to keep pretending otherwise.

Blue-Collar Workers Deserve Six-Figure Salaries Too

In another new article from Fong and Jenkins on the longshore workers' strike, the two explore how blue collar workers' pay has both historically and contemporarily been used as a divisive smokescreen to keep the working class from uniting.

The Atlanta City Council Is Scared of Direct Democracy

In her new piece for Jacobin, CWD staff researcher Maria Esch talks about the ways in which the City of Atlanta has attempted to quash the Vote to Stop Cop City, a popular citizen driven ballot initiative, despite the will of the community.

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.

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

Case, B. (2024). Abortion rights are on 10 state ballots in November − Democrats can’t count on this to win elections for them. The Conversation.

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.

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

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

Esch, M. (2024). The Atlanta City Council Is Scared of 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). Labor’s Gains? Phenomenal World.

Fong, B.Y. (2024). Psilocybin legislation is helping psychedelic drugs make a comeback – a drug researcher explains the challenges they face. Jacobin.

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

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

Fong, B.Y., & Jenkins, S. (2024). Blue-Collar Workers Deserve Six-Figure Salaries Too. Jacobin.

Jenkins, S., & Fong, B.Y. (2024). The Port Strike Called the Shipping Companies’ Bluff. Jacobin.

McQuarrie, M, (2023). Health care workers gain 21% wage increase in pending agreement with Kaiser Permanente after historic strike. Jacobin.

McQuarrie, M. (2023). This Month’s Kaiser Health Care Strike Won Big for Workers and Patients. The Conversation.

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.

Siebens, J. & Case, B. (2024). What's Happening in Gaza Is Not a War. It's a Massacre. Inkstick.

Center People In the News

Gilger, L. (Host). (2022). Why 2022 has become the year for unions. [Audio podcast episode]. KJZZ. National Public Radio. -- featuring Michael McQuarrie.

Gira Grant, M. (2024). Why Some People Will Vote for Abortion Rights—and Trump. The New Republic. -- featuring Benjamin Case.

Hawkins, M. (2022). Introducing Jeanelle Austin, ASU’s inaugural activist-in-residence. ASU News. -- featuring Jeanelle Austin.

Hendricks, T. (2021). ASU professor creates ‘George Floyd Square’ documentary. 12 News. -- featuring Michael McQuarrie.

Lybeck, E. (Host). (2019). Michael McQuarrie (LSE) (No. 1). [Audio podcast episode]. The Civic Sociologist. Podbean. -- featuring Michael McQuarrie.

Rosenfeld, K. (2024). Former Trump lawyers take aim at a popular initiative encouraging Pittsburgh’s divestment from Israel. City Paper. -- featuring Benjamin Case.

(2021). What George Floyd Square is all about. Arizona PBS. -- featuring Michael McQuarrie.