Category Archives: General announcements

MAP Public-Facing Philosophy

Posted on by under General announcements, Neutrality and Complicity, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

A reprise of an earlier announcement: I’ll be presenting “Academia’s Complicit Executioners: A Critique of the Kalven Committee Report” at the MAP Public Facing Philosophy conference on Saturday, September 6th. The first link above goes to a video of my talk at the Heterodox Academy conference this past June in Brooklyn. I’m hoping to have a much-expanded hard copy version of that presentation written up soon, which I’ll post here and on the MAP page. Anyone can attend the MAP conference (it’s free), but you have to RSVP. Info below, and RSVP here.

The panel goes from 12-1 pm EDT, and the Works in Progress Presentations begin at 1. Updated correction: The presentations are ten minutes each, and will be given sequentially, followed by a joint 30 minute discussion until about 2. The keynote follows that.

The contrast with Heterodox Academy is sort of amusing. For my most recent attack on institutional neutrality, go here. Continue reading →

Re-organization Tempest Brewing

Posted on by under General announcements

Policy of Truth has been around for eleven years now, and on reflection it occurs to me that I’ve frankly done a horrific job of tagging and categorizing my posts here over time. Many of them discuss the same topic, theme, or campaign, but are scattered in ways that make them hard to find.

My migrant justice posts are a perfect example: they stretch back over a decade, but are inconsistently tagged, categorized, and titled. You’d never know that a post written in 2025 bears a connection to one written five or ten years ago, but that’s often the case. It also doesn’t help that I’m so indecisive about titles, e.g., posting one and changing it five minutes (or five days) later. Henceforth, all of that will change. O brave new blog, that has such structure about it!

Continue reading →

Fundraiser for Detained Activist

Posted on by under activism, General announcements

(I’m happy to report that in less than a week, we’ve collected more than $10K, exceeding our initial goal.)

A migrant defense group I work with, Resistencia en Acción, is organizing a fundraiser via GoFundMe for one of our members who’s been detained by ICE.

We write to you with heavy hearts and a deep sense of urgency.

One of the worker leaders of the Day Laborer Committee in Princeton at Resistencia en Accion NJ has been detained by ICE and is currently being transferred to an immigration detention center here in New Jersey. He has been organizing alongside fellow day laborers at his corner and leading with courage, and showing up for our community in every moment of need.

Please consider making a donation. There’s more information at the GoFundMe link above. Continue reading →

A Challenge to the Union County Board

Posted on by under activism, General announcements, Neutrality and Complicity

Statement to the Union County Board of Commissioners
Administration Building
Elizabethtown Plaza
Elizabeth, New Jersey
June 12, 2025

(Temporarily pushed down; will bring it back to the top when I can.)

My name is Irfan Khawaja. I live in Princeton, and work in Iselin. 

The Board has voted to auction the Union County Jail to the highest bidder. We all know that the highest bidder is likely to be ICE. So let’s get real: you’ve auctioned it off to ICE. Continue reading →

May Day in Princeton

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, General announcements, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, Trump 2

One of the activist groups I work with, Resistencia en Acción, is putting on a May Day march and celebration this Thursday, May 1st, in Princeton, New Jersey, starting at 6 pm. The event begins at the “Fountain of Freedom” at Washington Rd and Prospect St on the Princeton University campus. We’ll march through town, circle back, and hear from local activists and members of the community in both English and Spanish. This is a march in solidarity with and defense of all migrants, documented or not, “legal” or not, and against the arbitrary harassment, detentions, and deportations engaged in by the “Department of Homeland Security,” among others. We’re expecting some 800 participants, from Newark to Trenton and points in between. Join us if you want to stand up for justice, and have a good time doing it. And click the Instagram below to listen to Princeton’s own Chris Hedges while you’re at it: Continue reading →

Heterodox Academy 2025

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, General announcements, moralism, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

Though I’m totally unsympathetic to the organization, I thought I’d announce that I’ll be giving a paper at the 2025 Heterodox Academy conference this June in Brooklyn. The conference runs June 23-25, and will be held at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. My talk is part of a three-person session at 8:30 am on the 24th called “The Skeptics’ Panel,” and is titled “Kalven’s Complicit Executioners: A Critique of the Kalven Committee Report.” There’s nothing particularly “skeptical” about my argument; it’s a straightforward rejection and critique of so-called “institutional neutrality.” I’ve laid out a version of the argument here, and will be blogging on related themes in the near future. Continue reading →

In Defense of Mahmoud Khalil

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, Election 2024, Fatwas, General announcements, moralism, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, Trump 2, Uncategorized

Letter from a Palestinian Political Prisoner in Louisiana March 18, 2025

My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law. Continue reading →

Stirring the POT (2)

Posted on by under activism, Big Data, cancel culture, Election 2024, General announcements, moralism, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine

March 2025: Kalven’s Complicit Executioners: A Critique of “Institutional Neutrality”

Last month, I started a series here called “Stirring the POT,” designed to announce forthcoming events and summarize notable recent happenings. In my last installment, I mentioned that I was giving a paper on–a critique of–“institutional neutrality” at the 34th Annual Conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) in Norfolk, Virginia. That was fun, so I figured I’d report on what happened.  Continue reading →

“False Alternatives in the Politics of Knowledge”

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, General announcements, libertarianism, liberty and the left, moralism, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, political philosophy

Just a reminder to anyone attending the APA Eastern in New York this January: the Molinari Society is hosting a session on “False Alternatives in the Politics of Knowledge,” Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, 4-5:50 pm, room TBA. Cory Massimino and I will be giving papers, with Roderick Long moderating and commenting. Cory’s paper is “Between Convergency and Conspiracy.” Mine is “Between Indoctrination and False Neutrality,” a defense of an advocacy-based conception of pedagogy, using the teaching I did under the Israeli occupation as a case study. For more details, click here.