Verso 2014

“When you put on a mask, you leave your own time,” writes Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot, while Gabriella Coleman explores the political culture of Anonymous in the hacking of HBGary. Politicians, narcos, fixers, and their all-too-hidden victims: Rohini Mohan, Óscar Martínez, Anabel Hernández, and Ken Silverstein report back from the front lines in Sri Lanka, Central America and Mexico, and the global oil industry. Arundhati Roy and David Roediger rethink the relationship between race, caste and political struggle. Keller Easterling, Jonathan Crary and Melissa Gira Grant all explore the dystopian intersection of technology and capitalism, while Lynne Segal and Frédéric Gros reflect on age, virility, and cultural power. James Meek writes on UK privatization, Micah Uetricht on Chicago’s teacher-led uprising, and Dan Hancox on Marinaleda’s village utopia. Alexander Cockburn and Shlomo Sand question citizenship and statehood. Slavoj Žižek dissects “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (drunk for “In the Garden of Eden”), Walter Benjamin asks for a pay raise, and Benjamin Kunkel (and Verso) recommend a few books to read.