George Ciccariello
George Ciccariello
George Ciccariello-Maher is a professor and scholar of Venezuelan social history. He is Associate Professor of Politics and Global Studies at Drexel University. [1] He has made several controversial statements.
Education
Ciccariello-Maher holds a B.A. in Government and Economics from St. Lawrence University, a B.A. Hons. and M.A. in Social and Political Sciences from St. John's College, University of Cambridge and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
George's first book, a history of revolutionary movements in Venezuela entitled We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution was published by Duke University Press in 2013. He published a short follow-up on the political dynamics of the post-Chávez era entitled Building the Commune: Radical Democracy in Venezuela (Jacobin-Verso, 2016). His third book, Decolonizing Dialectics, will be published in 2017, also by Duke University Press.
George is co-edits with Bruno Bosteels the book series Radical Américas, which launches in 2017 with Duke University Press.
Ciccariello-Maher writes for The Nation, Jacobin Magazine and Salon. He often appears on television discussing subjects ranging from Venezuelan politics to the Occupy movement. He is an avid translator of Latin American decolonial theory, and has translated several books and articles by thinkers like Enrique Dussel and Anibal Quijano, among others.
Controversial Tweets
On Christmas Day 2016, George tweeted "All I want for Christmas is White Genocide", prompting a huge backlash.
He later deleted the tweet, but then tweeted "the massacre of whites during the Haitian Revolution was a good thing.
Drexel University's response to the tweet was: "Drexel became aware today of Associate Professor George Ciccariello-Maher's inflammatory tweet, which was posted on his personal Twitter account on Dec. 24, 2016. While the University recognizes the right of its faculty to freely express their thoughts and opinions in public debate, Professor Ciccariello-Maher's comments are utterly reprehensible, deeply disturbing, and do not in any way reflect the values of the University. The University is taking this situation very seriously. We contacted Ciccariello-Maher today to arrange a meeting to discuss this matter in detail."
In 2017 Ciccariello-Maher tweeted that he wanted to vomit when an airline passenger gave up his first-class seat to a U.S. soldier in uniform.
Ciccariello-Maher called for a speech by Charles Murray at another University to be shut down by protests.