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Peter Dreier

Peter Dreier teaches politics and chairs the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. His latest book is The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame (Nation Books, 2012).

Recent Articles

The Cubs, Cars, Cat Stevens, Consumers, and Capitalism

A new car ad evokes our contentious political climate and exploits a classic protest song to sell Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Peter DreierOct 12, 2016
Radu Bercan/Shutterstock
Radu Bercan/Shutterstock I t is unlikely that the late Marxist philosopher Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) was a baseball fan. But had he been watching Friday's Chicago Cubs-San Francisco Giants game, he would probably have had a lot to say about the new one-minute Jeep Grand Cherokee commercial featuring Cat Stevens' song, “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out,” that was broadcast between innings. In his 1964 book, One Dimensional Man , Marcuse (who taught at Brandeis University and the University of California at San Diego) explored how capitalism seeks to co-opt radical ideas for commercial purposes and turn them into commodities to promote consumer culture and corporate profit. The new commercial for the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a perfect illustration of Marcuse's point. Created by the McGarryBowen advertising agency, and entitled “Free to Be,” it is a brilliant and disturbing ad designed to exploit our current political and cultural moment, even making an overt reference to the...

Trump Mega-Donor Geoff Palmer Is Also LA’s Most Controversial Developer

Real-estate developer Geoff Palmer has a lot in common with Donald Trump, including a controversial record of lawsuits and real estate dealings that invariably put the wealthy first.

Peter Dreier | September 19, 2016

Record Number of Women May Serve in Senate

It’s well known that Hillary Clinton may make history as the nation’s first woman president, but less noticed are the many women running for Senate this year, who may break a record of their own.

Peter DreierSep 13, 2016
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, Jeanne Shaheen, Amy Klobuchar, Debbie Stabenow, Barbara Mikulski, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Claire McCaskill, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Mazie Hirono at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. A mericans might not only elect their first woman president in November; they might also install a record number of women in the 100-member Senate. There are currently 20 women in the Senate—14 Democrats and six Republicans—according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Twelve women—including three incumbents—are currently running for ten Senate seats. (There are 34 Senate races this year). If things break well for the Democrats, the next Senate could have 24 women—19 Democrats and five Republicans. This would be a record number of women in the Senate. Public opinion about women running for public office has changed dramatically over the last several...

Trump Touts Pledge of Allegiance with Socialist Roots

Donald Trump’s vision of America clashes sharply with the original intent behind the Pledge of Allegiance, penned during the Gilded Age to promote equity, tolerance, and progressive ideals.

Peter DreierSep 07, 2016
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
AP Photo/Evan Vucci Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to the American Legion National Convention, Thursday, September 1, 2016, in Cincinnati. “ We want young Americans to recite the Pledge of Allegiance,” Donald Trump said in a speech to the American Legion National Convention in Cincinnati last week. Trump told the war veterans organization that he would work “to strengthen respect for our flag,” a not-too veiled swipe at San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the national anthem at a late-August preseason game. In a Trump administration, the GOP nominee said, “We will be united by our common culture, values and principles, becoming one American nation, one country under one constitution saluting one American flag—and always saluting it—the flag all of you helped to protect and preserve, that flag deserves respect.” Four years ago, GOP candidate Mitt Romney also invoked the Pledge of Allegiance to portray himself as...

‘Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American’

A new exhibit spotlights American Jews and the fight for equality in baseball. 

Peter Dreier | August 12, 2016

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