Jedediah Britton-Purdy

Jedediah Britton-Purdy teaches at Columbia Law School. His new book, This Land Is Our Land: The Struggle for a New Commonwealth, will appear this fall.

A certificate for a volunteer serving in the Union army.

Can the Constitution Save Us? Can the Constitution Save Us?

The Constitution is often invoked as a safeguard for American democracy, but does it more often get in democracy’s way?

Jul 2, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent 

Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent  Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent 

At the core of both his writing and activism is the insight that we can’t imagine a harmonious future without confronting the destruction in our past.

Sep 9, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

The Myth of the American Frontier

The Myth of the American Frontier The Myth of the American Frontier

Greg Grandin’s new book charts the past and present of American expansionism and its high human costs.

Apr 1, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

How and Why the First Amendment Became a Weapon for the Right

How and Why the First Amendment Became a Weapon for the Right How and Why the First Amendment Became a Weapon for the Right

Over the past decade, the Supreme Court has recast free speech and the Constitution’s core principles in order to entrench the power of employers and the wealthy.

Sep 12, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

A Billionaires’ Republic

A Billionaires’ Republic A Billionaires’ Republic

American democracy has always been threatened by concentrations of wealth as much as those of power.

Jul 11, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

Thoreau: A Radical for All Seasons

Thoreau: A Radical for All Seasons Thoreau: A Radical for All Seasons

The surprising persistence of Henry David Thoreau.

Jun 1, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

A People’s Globalism: Notes Toward a New Left Internationalism

A People’s Globalism: Notes Toward a New Left Internationalism A People’s Globalism: Notes Toward a New Left Internationalism

Three writers consider the major foreign-policy questions facing the left today.

Feb 16, 2017 / Michael Walzer, Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, and Jedediah Britton-Purdy

Populism’s Two Paths

Populism’s Two Paths Populism’s Two Paths

Throughout the North Atlantic, insurgencies on the left and the right are challenging mainstream politics. The question is: Which popular movement—the left’s or the right’s—will pr...

Oct 13, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

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