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Courtney Martin

Courtney E. Martin is a Prospect senior correspondent. She is the author of Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists (Beacon Press). You can read more about her work at www.courtneyemartin.com.

Recent Articles

The Upside of Downsizing

In the wake of the recession, Americans are consuming less and communing more.

Courtney MartinOct 15, 2010
A Zipcar station in Washington, D.C. (Flickr/NCinDC)

Over the past year, it seemed that every major media outlet declared "the end of men." The latest in this series was last month’s Newsweek cover story, which declared that the economic meltdown has rendered males an “endangered species.” I’m as eager to see a gender shake-up as anyone, but I’m afraid that the obsessive focus on this one side effect of the economic crisis is overblown and distracting us from some other significant cultural changes. Gender may be shifting but so is how we consume and commune.

Urban-Rural Divide No More

An increasing number of urban dwellers are retreating to the country -- and taking the city with them.

Courtney MartinOct 04, 2010
(Flickr/Jimmy Emerson)

Carol Coletta, the president and CEO of Chicago-based CEOs for Cities, directed the 100 or so young, urban leaders seated before her to look up at a map of the United States as she demonstrated the steady migration of Americans out of rural areas and into cities over the last 10 years. Little blue dots representing the population piled inward and on top of one another like bees to a honeyed hive. Coletta is a true city evangelist, as were most of those in attendance at last week's Urban Next Summit conference in San Francisco.

The Mosque in the Mirror

It's easy to point fingers and call out conservative racism, but the progressive community has a long way to go, too.

Courtney MartinSep 19, 2010
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (Flickr/trevino)

Editors' Note: This piece has been corrected.

The proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero has set off a firestorm of media coverage that, for the most part, is a reflection of our broader national discourse on race, religion, and difference -- yet again highlighting our inadequate grasp of these issues. It's like a flashback of 2008, when every other week proposed a new ratings-hyping headline asking: Is so-and-so racist?

All Style, No Substance?

Feminists have a fraught relationship with Michelle Obama's political agenda.

Courtney MartinAug 23, 2010
(White House/Pete Souza)

It's no big mystery that Sarah Palin makes feminists want to poke their own eyes out. That plucky delivery and empty rhetoric, that faux-folksy manipulation and mama-bear shtick. She's essentially using our ideas -- the strength of women, the importance of independence -- but without our integrity. We hate that she's performing empowerment rather than actually delivering it. We hate the way conservative pundits lust after and objectify her. We hate that she's everywhere, saying nothing.

But there's another woman who is currently proving even more problematic for the contemporary feminist. She's a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, formerly a highly successful lawyer at the Chicago firm Sidley Austin, the mentor to our current president of the United States of America.

A Conference of One's Own

Do we still need to carve out separate spaces for girls and women in order to ensure that their ideas are heard?

Courtney MartinAug 09, 2010
Elizabeth Pisani at TED2010. (TED/James Duncan Davidson)

When TED calls, you answer the phone.

TED is a 26-year-old organization that hosts some of the world's most sought-after conferences, and a highly trafficked website featuring 18-minute talks on "ideas worth spreading." If your mom, co-worker, or best friend hasn't sent you a link to a TED talk already, it's just a matter of time.

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