Tag Archives: politics

How China’s ruling story helped kill 2.6 million people, and counting

Posted on 13 March 2021 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

So far, more than 2,640,000 people around the world have died from COVID-19. Thanks to the vaccines, maybe the death toll won’t climb much higher, and maybe life will soon return to normal. But is there anything China could have … Continue reading →

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A thousand years of grievance? Here???

Posted on 6 March 2021 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

When I write about speeches that get people really riled up – as part of our research team’s ongoing study of genocide – one of my favorite examples is Slobodan Milošević’s Gazimestan speech. About a million Serbs showed up to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, narrative science, US politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Fairness and the “R” word

Posted on 16 February 2021 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Last week I shared my concern that efforts to hold the United States accountable for what our society has done to handicap some population groups could lead to some very negative side-effects. That is, our discussions of collective responsibility could … Continue reading →

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Whose Law? Whose Order?

Posted on 8 January 2021 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

The shocking, yet not at all surprising, events in the U.S. Capitol this week revitalized a question I’ve been asking myself lately: How do we reconcile a president’s repeated call for “law and order” with his obvious delight in sheer, … Continue reading →

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The secret to social change

Posted on 3 December 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

We all have a lot of ideas about what people should be doing differently. What am I talking about? Well, pretty much everything – every topic of laws and norms and morality that affect other people’s decisions. It could be … Continue reading →

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The “Nixon-to-China” theory of change

Posted on 8 November 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

For my friends who’d rather have had Bernie for president… don’t lose hope. Here’s why I think the Biden presidency may be just what we need. In the early 1970s, mainland China was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution, a … Continue reading →

Posted in US politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

America’s Irony Problem

Posted on 28 October 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Irony can be a lot of fun.  And it’s everywhere, from the most scathing sarcasm to the gentle wit of Kermit the Frog. We love to laugh at satire and parody.  The “mockumentary” has become a popular film genre – … Continue reading →

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The Axis of Awesomeness

Posted on 22 October 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Our collective stories about who we are and where we’re headed are potent elements of our culture, especially during election season, as you may have seen in my recent Scientific American essay and my earlier posts in this blog.  My … Continue reading →

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In a League of her own

Posted on 30 July 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

A few weeks ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced a “small quarantine accomplishment”: She’s made it to rank Silver III in League of Legends. Predictably, the lively congresswoman’s tweet met with a scornful backlash – she should give back her salary or … Continue reading →

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Stories-About-Us: How They Work

Posted on 10 July 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

In my last few blog posts, I’ve been focusing on our “stories about us” (“metanarratives”) – the topic of the book I’m writing. I hope the book will reach a broad audience, because it’s vital information we all need to … Continue reading →

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