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Randall Amster

Randall Amster, J.D., Ph.D., is co-director and teaching professor of environmental studies at Georgetown University. His books include "Peace Ecology" (2015), "Anarchism Today" ( 2012), and "Lost in Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness" (2008).

Articles by this author

A protester wears a face mask displaying the words "I can't breathe" during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park on June 3, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. The death of an African-American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world. (Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

We Interrupt This Pandemic... With Demands for Justice and Healing

The call to "reopen" society isn't just about stores and bars; it's about reopening ourselves to the reality of a system that is built on racism, violence, and injustice.

Randall Amster · Jun 3, 2020

President Donald J. Trump speaks with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the coronavirus task force during a briefing in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday, April 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Don’t Drink the Snake Oil—Or the Disinfectant

In a moment like this, where some steadying force is coveted, we have this circus instead.

Randall Amster · Apr 25, 2020

This millennium has wired us into a pervasive system of individuated connection, making it a perfect precursor to the requisite high-tech sequestration at hand. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Apocalypse On-Demand

Is this societal demise, or technological ascent?

Randall Amster · Apr 13, 2020

People maintain social distancing while standing in line to enter a Trader Joe's as the coronavirus pandemic continues on March 25, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Holding Our Breath, Together and Apart

Crises illuminate our dependency on one another, and on remote chains of production and distribution—but also highlight a resiliency and capacity to live within limits.

Randall Amster · Mar 31, 2020

A worker carries out sanitation operations for the Coronavirus emergency in Piazza dei Miracoli near to the Tower of Pisa in a deserted town on March 17, 2020.

Solidarity in a Time of Social Distancing

The story of this moment is being written by all of us.

Randall Amster · Mar 21, 2020

Empty shelves are visible at a Target retail store in Contra Costa County, San Ramon, California, as residents purchase all available stock of toilet paper, paper towels, canned goods, hand sanitizer and other essential items during an outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, March 12, 2020.

The New Abnormal

Randall Amster · Mar 15, 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill after returning from the White House on January 02, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Trump and Subservient GOP Expose Failure of American Exceptionalism

Another nail in the coffin of a fractured system that still sits on an idealized pedestal.

Randall Amster · Feb 1, 2020

Mural at 510 West Broadway, Hwy. 56, downtown Okemah, Oklahoma, depicting Woody Guthrie and Okfuskee County history. Painted by DeAnna Mauldin in 1994.

For 2020 and Beyond: 'Keep Hoping Machine Running'

All things considered, we could do worse than embracing Woody Guthrie's resolutions for the new year.

Randall Amster · Jan 1, 2020

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