Tag Archives: Trump

Columns

Alas, America!

Lament for a shattered dream on the eve of political breakdown (2020)

Michael A. Peters
Trump 45 47 flag

Peters, M. A. (2020). Alas, America! Lament for a shattered dream on the eve of political breakdown. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(4), 393–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1837620 [This is a reprint of an editorial from late 2020: it provides a reminder of the fears many expressed for Trump’s second term.] America’s current world status and position have been […]

Full Citation Information:
Peters, M. A. (2025). Alas, America!: Lament for a shattered dream on the eve of political breakdown (2020). PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/alas-america/

Michael A. Peters

Michael A. Peters (FRSNZ)  is a New Zealander and is currently Distinguished Professor at Beijing Normal University and Emeritus Professor University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was awarded a Personal Chair at the University of Auckland in 2000 and became a Research Professor at the University of Glasgow (2000-2006) before being appointed Excellence Hire Professor at Illinois and Professor of Education at the University of Waikato. He has Honorary Doctorates from Aalborg University, Denmark and SUNY, New York.

Michael was Editor-in-Chief of Educational Philosophy and Theory for 25 years and is currently Editor of Beijing International Review of Education (Brill). He is the founding editor of Policy Futures in Education (Sage); E-Learning & Digital Media (Sage); Knowledge Cultures (Addleton); Open Review of Educational Research (Taylor & Francis); Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy (Brill) and on the board of many other journals and book series.

Michael has written over 120 books and many journal articles on a wide range of topics and has worked with and mentored many younger scholars. He was given the Social Science and Humanities Leader in China Award in both 2022 and 2023 (Research.com) and is ranked 1st in China and 5th in Asia for Education and Educational Philosophy and Theory (AD Scientific Index, 2023). He is also ranked in the World’s Top 2% of Scientists by Stanford University. His recent works includes two books on the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic philosophy to be published in 2024.

Columns

Are We in Love with Hate?

Peter McLaren

Here’s much to do with love but more with hate; my only love sprung from my only hate (William Shakespeare)  In the shadowed recesses of contemporary history, where the air is thick with portent, and the spectre of tyranny looms, we witness a wretched figure rising from the grave of disillusionment – a man who […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Are We in Love with Hate?. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/are-we-in-love-with-hate/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

The Land of Milk and Hate

Teetering on the Edge of the Capitalist Abyss

Peter McLaren

They say calling Trump what he is – a pedant authoritarian, a convicted criminal, an enabler of the worst and most dangerous elements of our body politic – constitutes a death threat, not a description. Sorry, MAGA, but if the jackboot fits, wear it: he is an authoritarian, a statist, a racist, an aspiring fascist, a hateful, mendacious, corrupt […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). The Land of Milk and Hate: Teetering on the Edge of the Capitalist Abyss. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/the-land-of-milk-and-hate/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

America’s Tears of Sorrow

A Molten Wasteland of Civic Virtue

Peter McLaren

America is shedding torrents of molten sorrow, tears that burn like liquid fire, searing their way through the bedrock of its democratic ideals. These are no ordinary tears but a deluge of molten despair cascading down from the heavens, each drop a scorching testament to the unravelling of the nation’s sacred fabric. They carve deep […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). America’s Tears of Sorrow: A Molten Wasteland of Civic Virtue. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/americas-tears-of-sorrow/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: MIke Licht, https://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/49964507196
Columns

Digital Supercapitalism, AI and the Knowledge Economy

Data-Driven Geopolitics and the Rise of the Trillion Dollar Big Tech Company

Michael A. Peters

Digital Supercapitalism Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labour under President Bill Clinton, published Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life (2007), reflecting on how capitalism has evolved in recent decades. Reich argues that since the 1970s, the US and other advanced economies have transitioned from ‘democratic capitalism’ to ‘supercapitalism.’ This new […]

Full Citation Information:
Peters, M. A. (2024). Digital Supercapitalism, AI and the Knowledge Economy: Data-Driven Geopolitics and the Rise of the Trillion Dollar Big Tech Company. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/digital-supercapitalism-ai-and-the-knowledge-economy/

Michael A. Peters

Michael A. Peters (FRSNZ)  is a New Zealander and is currently Distinguished Professor at Beijing Normal University and Emeritus Professor University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was awarded a Personal Chair at the University of Auckland in 2000 and became a Research Professor at the University of Glasgow (2000-2006) before being appointed Excellence Hire Professor at Illinois and Professor of Education at the University of Waikato. He has Honorary Doctorates from Aalborg University, Denmark and SUNY, New York.

Michael was Editor-in-Chief of Educational Philosophy and Theory for 25 years and is currently Editor of Beijing International Review of Education (Brill). He is the founding editor of Policy Futures in Education (Sage); E-Learning & Digital Media (Sage); Knowledge Cultures (Addleton); Open Review of Educational Research (Taylor & Francis); Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy (Brill) and on the board of many other journals and book series.

Michael has written over 120 books and many journal articles on a wide range of topics and has worked with and mentored many younger scholars. He was given the Social Science and Humanities Leader in China Award in both 2022 and 2023 (Research.com) and is ranked 1st in China and 5th in Asia for Education and Educational Philosophy and Theory (AD Scientific Index, 2023). He is also ranked in the World’s Top 2% of Scientists by Stanford University. His recent works includes two books on the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic philosophy to be published in 2024.

Columns

The Death Rattle of Democracy in the Age of Trumpism

Some Dare Call It Fascism

Peter McLaren

Donald Trump is the symbolic figurehead of the MAGA cult who has achieved a towering stature in the popular imagination because of his defiant behaviour after an assassin’s bullet came within an inch of its mark, leaving blood streaming across Trump’s face. Not only should Democrats be gearing up for overcoming a much more confident, […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). The Death Rattle of Democracy in the Age of Trumpism: Some Dare Call It Fascism. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/the-death-rattle-of-democracy-in-the-age-of-trumpism/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Elvert Barnes, https://www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/53492101666
Columns

Steve Bannon’s Ideological Juggernaut

Overlord of the Dark Enlightenment

Peter McLaren

Zachary B. Wolf described a recent conservative gathering featuring Steve Bannon as speaker. ‘Are we at war?’ Bannon demanded of the crowd, his voice slicing through the air. ‘Is this a political war to the knife?’ The phrase, steeped in historical resonance, harks back to a pro-slavery newspaper from the era preceding the American Civil […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Steve Bannon’s Ideological Juggernaut: Overlord of the Dark Enlightenment. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/steve-bannons-ideological-juggernaut/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/
Columns

The Pentecostalisation of Donald Trump

A Tale of Two Saviours

Peter McLaren

The former president, defiant and unyielding, his signature bronzed face turning red before the cameras at Trump Tower, dismissed the legal process that made him a felon with a wave of his tiny hand. ‘Rigged,’ he repeated, his voice echoing through the room, a declaration of his studied refusal to accept the verdict handed down […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). The Pentecostalisation of Donald Trump: A Tale of Two Saviours. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/the-penecostalisation-of-donald-trump/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

Surviving the Age of Gloom

Reflections on Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism, Trumpism and the War in Ukraine

Peter McLaren

The post-truth zeitgeist relentlessly haunts us as meaning becomes ever more detached from representation, as signs now refer not to conceptually settled ‘signified’ meanings but only to other signs, vanishing in an endless chain of time-worn signifiers devoid of inherent intelligibility. Such languishing fragmentation profoundly weakens the unity of signs and their capacity to anchor […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Surviving the Age of Gloom: Reflections on Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism, Trumpism and the War in Ukraine. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/surviving-the-age-of-gloom/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

The Politic Rhetoric of Bloodbath Politics

Freire, Trump and the Challenge of Meaning

Peter McLaren

In 2020, during a remarkable display of spiritual hysteria, Paula White, the wackadoodle spiritual advisor to former President Trump, embarked on a proclamation that reverberated both with a maddening celestial invocation and unhinged theological assertion influenced by a ‘Moonies cult’ revelation operating under the banner of the New Apostolic Reformation. Utilising a staccato rhythm reminiscent […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). The Politic Rhetoric of Bloodbath Politics: Freire, Trump and the Challenge of Meaning. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/the-politic-rhetoric-of-bloodbath-politics/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

Nuclear Daze

Waking up to the War on Nukes and the War on Woke

Peter McLaren

J. Andrés Gannon has formulated a nuanced geopolitical model of the war in Ukraine regarding the spectre of nuclear conflagration. Within the tempestuous realm of Russo-Ukrainian relations, Gannon warns that the lurching discourse surrounding the potential deployment of nuclear armaments by Russia has unveiled a variegated display of strategic posturing and rhetorical ambivalence. From the […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Nuclear Daze: Waking up to the War on Nukes and the War on Woke. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/nuclear-daze/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

Trump’s Torching of America

Some Reflections on the Demolition of Democracy

Peter McLaren

In the looming spectre of a Trump triumph in November 2024, democracy finds itself ensnared in a dark and foreboding web. Much like Grendel, the malevolent creature of ancient myth whose lineage traces back to the Biblical figure Cain, Trump prowls the political landscape tormented by a relentless hunger for power and dominance. Like Grendel, who […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Trump’s Torching of America: Some Reflections on the Demolition of Democracy. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/trumps-torching-of-america/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Creator: Ted Eytan Copyright: This material is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Columns

Romancing the Apocalypse

Christopher Rufo’s Self-Righteous Crusade to Destroy America

Peter McLaren

Rejecting a world of communal solidarity and love that values affirmation, respect and reciprocal relations among diverse groups of human beings is irredeemably antagonistic to the purported values we associate with American citizenship. Yet such a rejection seems today to be in lockstep with the privatising and utilitarian logic of exchange value – in other […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2024). Romancing the Apocalypse: Christopher Rufo’s Self-Righteous Crusade to Destroy America. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/romancing-the-apocalypse/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

Spiritual and Material Antisemitism, Julius Evola and the Threat of Contemporary Fascism

Peter McLaren

Kaushik Jayaram has written a cautionary essay on why fascism is on the rise the world over that should provoke angry remonstrances from the public but will likely be met with a withering indifference if not insipient and callous antipathy. Much has been written about fascism and the proliferation of fascist governments – including their connection […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2023). Spiritual and Material Antisemitism, Julius Evola and the Threat of Contemporary Fascism. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/spiritual-and-material-antisemitism-julius-evola-and-the-threat-of-contemporary-fascism/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

The Cosmic Mountain

A Modern-Day Parable Marking the Day the Supreme Court of the United States Outlawed Affirmative Action in College Admissions

Peter McLaren

Cosmic mountains are places where human beings can retreat in order to face the ghosts of the past and ask for forgiveness. In France, there exists a cosmic mountain where the ghosts of the victims of the Deutsches Ahnenerbe-Studiengesellschaft fur Geistesurgeschichte in Natzweiler Struthoff (a Nazi camp where inmates were subjected to obscene medical experiments […]

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.