Articles by Robert Jensen
Can Bernie Sanders be labeled?
Nation of Change · October, 2015
Whatever the fate of Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid, his current popularity provides an opportunity to clarify the various political labels attached to him: liberal, progressive, socialist, democratic socialist, social democratic, leftist, radical.
Letting Go of Normal When “Normal” Is Pathological, or Why Feminism Is a Gift to Men
Vanderbilt University Press · September, 2015
Robert Jensen on the art of journalism
The Hand On Heart Review/South Africa; reposted on Resilience.org · June, 2015
Things White People Should Never Say
YES! Magazine, Summer 2015 · June, 2015
I am white, and the woman I’m meeting is black. I have lived in Austin, Texas, for more than two decades, and she recently moved here. We bumped into each other at an event and learned we have similar political interests. I invited her to coffee to talk about local organizing, and after introductions the first thing I say is, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to join a nonprofit board.”
American Journalism’s Ideology: Why the “Liberal” Media is Fundamentalist
ZNet · June, 2015
This memo is my response to an editor at a U.S. news organization who was soliciting feedback for a review of the organization’s coverage of environmental news. From a conservative point of view, this newsroom is part of the “liberal media.” My goal in the memo was to step back from that superficial, diversionary label and evaluate the deeper ideological commitments that shape mainstream news.
The transgender problem for diversity politics
Dallas Morning News · June, 2015
The surge of discussion about transgenderism — and growing support for policy goals of the transgender movement, such as public funding for sex-reassignment surgery — leaves many liberal/progressive people conflicted.
Resilience Reflections
Resilience · May, 2015
Resilience Reflections asks Robert Jensen what it is that inspires his work, and what keeps him going.
Rolling Stone and Rape Culture
teleSUR · April, 2015
What do patriarchy and feminism have to do with the University of Virginia story, and why should journalists care?
‘Epic Fail’: Feminism and Ecological Crises
Resilience · March, 2015
We humans are an epic fail.
In internet-speak, that term can be used derisively or sympathetically. A failure of grand proportions can be labeled “epic” either to mock or to offer condolences to someone who fails so completely. However, given the speed at which pop-culture fads come and go, I’m told by younger informants that the term is already long out of date and that to invoke it is a sign of irrelevance.
Sainath’s Challenge
CounterPunch · January, 2015
P. Sainath started building the People’s Archive of Rural India only a couple of years ago. But the passion behind the innovative online project that mixes journalism and oral history, which was launched last month to overwhelming acclaim, goes back more than two decades.
Feminism Unheeded
Nation of Change · January, 2015
For the past year, the media have been full of discussions of the endemic sexual violence in the contemporary United States, while at the same time pop culture has been celebrating the new visibility of the transgender movement. Both of these cases — which many take to be feminist successes — actually highlight patriarchy’s ability to adapt to challenges and undermine a radical critique of the domination/subordination dynamic at the heart of institutionalized male dominance.