Field Notes
From The Editor
Happy New Year!
By Paul MattickIt’s hard to know what to deal with first—not only is the world continuing to go to hell in a handbasket, but the speed of descent seems to have increased.measures of income re-distribution at a moment when, with the Republican victory in the midterm elections, such things have become practically impossible.
Is it Possible to Win the War After Losing All the Battles?
By Pavlos RoufosThe announcement of national elections in Greece, roughly two years before the coalition government of New Democracy and Pasok completed their term, immediately sparked a renewed interest in this southern and economically peripheral European country.
Letter from Paris
By Charles ReeveSome thoughts on the situation we are living through, right now, in Paris and in France. It’s a difficult moment.
Anger and Shame
by Catherine Robert, Isabelle Richer, Valérie Louys, and Damien BoussardWe are teachers at Seine-Saint-Denis [a northern banlieue (suburb) of Paris, where the majority of children are of immigrant origin]. Intellectual, educated, adult, libertarian, we’re done with God and detest political power and its perverse pleasures.
We Should Say No to This Hypocritical Rally
By Patric JeanThree days after the terrorist attack commenced, we’re being dished up a tepid, consensual discourse topped with a hypocritically pious sauce. The worst critics whine about freedom of speech.
AYOTZINAPA
Reasons of State—and Economy
On September 26, 2014, in the Mexican town of Iguala, in the state of Guerrero, uniformed police and black-masked gunmen shot and killed six people, wounded more than 20, and detained 43 students from the Normal School in nearby Ayotzinapa.
Why Now? Why in Guerrero?
By Magdalena Galindo LedezmaIn addition to expressing indignation at the crimes the state has committed against the students of the rural Normal School Raúl Isidro Burgos in Ayotzinapa, we think it is essential to analyze the events from a political perspective, in order to attempt to identify not only those responsible, but also the intent behind the crimes.
Ayotzinapa: The Rural Normal School and the Criminal Government Offensive
By Jorge CázaresThe violence of September 26 in Iguala, located in the state of Guerrero, where six young people were murdered, more than 20 wounded, and 43 Normal School students disappeared at the hands of the local police of Iguala and Cocula, along with paramilitary groups—with the complaisance of the municipal, state, and federal governments and of the Mexican Army, whose 27th Infantry Battalion was stationed in this region—is not an isolated event.
The Criminal Economy
By Sandy E. Ramirez GutiérrezThe violent disappearance of students attending the Ayotzinapa Normal School, located in the state of Guerrero, highlighted not only the complicity of political power with drug trafficking groups, but also how these organizations have grown from exclusive trading partners to crucial instruments in the execution of state crimes.
