Siva Vaidhyanathan

Siva Vaidhyanathan is a cultural historian and media scholar. In addition to his openDemocracy column, his work has been published in American Scholar, The Chronicle of Higher Education and other prestigious journals.

Creative Commons: Making copyright work for democracy

openDemocracy.net has taken a major step toward enriching global democratic discussion by adopting Creative Commons licences for its articles. Practically, the use of these licences grant participating openDemocracy authors

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 12 Jun 2005

Heartbreak Hotel

Theyll be no more FDRs Steve Earle, Christmas in Washington The attempt to explain a place as large, diverse, and maddeningly energetic as the United States of America to

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 30 Dec 2004

Bring democracy back to America

I shook with anticipation as I took my seat in the main hall of the ornate Prague Municipal Building last week at the annual Forum 2000 conference, where world-renowned politicians,

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 25 Oct 2004

What happens when we vote?

You dont need the bullet if you got the ballot (George Clinton, Chocolate City) At last, on 9 October 2004, the people of Afghanistan have an opportunity to choose

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 4 Oct 2004

We are all anarchists now

The anarchist activists protesting the Republican party convention in New York are not the dangerous radicals of news media and mayoral imagination. Real anarchists are just like folks and their

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 30 Aug 2004

Panic and perspective

The first victim of widespread panic is a proper sense of perspective and proportion. On 1 August, Americans heard from the federal secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, that United

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 11 Aug 2004

The sport of politics

It is a weird moment in the United States. Thats how I feel today, having recently returned from Europe, where things are also weirdbut in a different way.

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 7 Jul 2004

Reagan: his character and his consequences

If you are a subscriber, and want to download the complete Reagan package, click here. Washington, D.C. Most people I know, and most Washingtonians, still call this airport National.

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 9 Jun 2004

Our last great hope

Miami, Florida Much of Miami, a prospering, bustling metropolis, seems designed with democratic spite, as if to ridicule the arbitrary, impoverished socialist dictatorship of Fidel Castros Cuba, which sits

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 12 May 2004

Texas: Part 2  Remembering the Alamo

San Antonio, Texas If you want a glimpse of the tensions and opportunities that have forged 21st century Texas, you could do better than watch the recent Disney release The

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 21 Apr 2004

Texas: Part 1

San Antonio, Texas When I moved to Texas in 1984, every elected state-wide official was a Democrat. Several were notorious liberals. When I left in 1998, every one was Republican.

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 13 Apr 2004

Responsibility is no fun

An interesting thing happened in the weeks immediately following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. At a moment when this nation was more united in solemnity and sorrow than

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

/ 2 Mar 2004