RPA Mag

A publication of the Radical Philosophy Association

Coup of What

Did the January 6 attack on the Capitol Building really attempt to overthrow democracy?

by Jeffery L. Nicholas

Understanding Accountability: The Case of Police Brutality

Cynthia Kaufmann presents a theory of accountability with reference to police brutality

by Brandon Absher

On “Wealth” and Whiteness

Why Trump remains the richest (read “whitest”) man in America

by Grant J Silva

Consuming Brutality

Lessons from the Narcosphere

by Carlos Alberto Sanchez

Counting All Political Prisoners

A proposal to revise our notion of who is a “political prisoner” in the age of mass incarceration

by Joseph Dole

A Plea for Realism

The Case for Revolution in a Time of Rapid Climate Change

by Brandon Absher

“I never owned any slaves”

Who owes reparations?

by Richard Schmitt

Mirror, mirror on the wall…

Who is the most corrupt of all?

by Richard Schmitt

The Philosophical Is Political: A Response to Agnes Callard

An argument that philosophers should sign petitions

by Brandon Absher

Marcuse’s Relevance Today: Violence, Racism, and the Critique of Pure Tolerance

How Marcuse might help us combat violent US culture

by Charles Reitz

Is “Intersection” Just a Word We Utter?

A Radical Call for Intersectional Veganism

by Tanya Loughead

Burger King Will Not Set Us Free

Student Loan Debt as a Systemic Injustice

by George Fourlas

Is Our Democracy a Blessing?

How the Enemies of Democracy Come to Power by Electoral Means

by Richard Schmitt

Playing Fascist

Why You Don’t Have To Be a Nazi To Be a Nazi in the 21st Century

by Julio Covarrubias

Bribery in College Admissions

A reminder of the pervasive corruption of American public life

by Richard Schmitt

Can Philosophy Survive the Neoliberal Academy?

Analyzing the situation of philosophy after the neoliberal redefinition of education

by Brandon Absher

Why Moderate Fascists Are Called Populists

What the term today is hiding

by Richard Schmitt

Migratorial Disobedience

The Fetishization of Immigration Law

by Grant J Silva

RPA Statement in Support of Angela Davis

Angela Davis deserves the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award

by Brandon Absher

When the World’s on Fire, Gonna Make a Movie about Democracy

A review of Roberto Minervini’s “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” and Astra Taylor’s “What is Democracy?”

by Tanya Loughead

Socialism in a Time of Rapid Climate Change: Reflections on the Green New Deal

An argument that socialists should support the Green New Deal

by Harry van der Linden

What Do You Think about Prisons?

A primer on mass incarceration and the purpose of prisons.

by Richard Schmitt

Soulless Capital

Why attempts to create a “moral capitalism” are misguided

by Clayton Morgareidge

Blackkklansman: A Philosophical Review

A philosophical review of Spike Lee’s new film, Blackkklansman

by Joshua Mills-Knutsen

Labor Day 2018

Our Country Has Lost Its Way and Is Drifting Without a Plan

by Richard Schmitt

Structural Racism

Why structural racism does not exonerate individual Whites from responsibility for the injustices suffered daily by Black Americans.

by Richard Schmitt

The Humanist Argument for Socialism

An introductory discussion of socialism and how to avoid co-option.

by Brandon Absher

We Femme the Future

A Review of Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” Show

by Tanya Loughead

Conversations about Politics

A reflection on political disagreement, respect, and democracy

by Richard Schmitt

The Only Reasonable Philosophy of Migration is a Radical Philosophy of Migration

A vision for a radical philosophy of migration.

by Alex Sager

Disagreeing and Blaming

On the complicity of philosophers and others in Trump’s family separation policy.

by Richard Schmitt

Civility and Repressive Tolerance in the Trump Era

An analysis of the contemporary meaning of civility.

by Brandon Absher

Against the Trump Administration’s Attack on Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Trump’s family separation policy must be connected to legacies of racism and genocide and the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers must be defended.

by Elvira Basevich

Trump’s Changes to Refugee Policy: Nativist Biopower

A Foucauldian analysis of Trump’s refugee policy.

by Steve Tammelleo

Gun Control, Abolition, and Transformative Justice

A radical Left response to gun violence

by Brandon Absher

Narcocultura

Précis for a Philosophy of Brutality

by Carlos Alberto Sanchez

Guns and Steel Don’t Kill, People Kill

Aimé Césaire, Jared Diamond, and the Contradictions of Empire

by james maffie

Online Misogyny and the RPA Mag Commenting Policy

Should the RPA Mag allow open comments?

by Tanya Loughead

An Orgy of Hypocricy

Why “nice nationalism” is just as bad as it’s vulgar twin

by Richard Schmitt

Crimmigration

Why criminal convictions should NOT have immigration consequences

by José Jorge Mendoza

On the “White Working Class”

Deconstructing the stereotype of the “white working class.” An important reality check!

by Brandon Absher

What Price Greatness?

Our military expenditures do not “make America great” but impoverish us at home where education, health care and other essential services fall to the level of an underdeveloped country

by Richard Schmitt

The RAISE Act: Protecting First-World Privilege via Strategic Racism

The new immigration legislation will not achieve its ostensible goal. The criteria it proposes for new immigrants thinly conceal its racist motivations.

by Grant J Silva

From “Homelands” to Humanity

Right-wing preoccupation with a “home,” defined through exclusion of undesirables, yields counterfeit community.

by Joan Braune

Why Police Abolition?

An argument for abolishing the police.

by Brandon Absher

Keep America White Again

An examination and critique of the central myths behind Trump’s immigration policies.

by José Jorge Mendoza

Not Another Left-Wing Publication!

An example of how RPA Mag can be used to further undergraduate teaching.

by Richard Schmitt

In Love with Hopelessness: A Letter to Comrades Regarding the Women’s March

A critique of “conservative leftism” and masochistic purism.

by Tanya Loughead

Editors’ Introduction

Introduction to RPA Mag from the editors.

by Brandon Absher