Michael I. Niman is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at
Buffalo State College and a syndicated columnist whose work has earned him two Project
Censored awards. His writing regularly appears in The Humanist,Truthout, Alternet,
ArtVoice and Coldtype as well as in dozens of other venues in the US, Canada, Europe and
South Africa. Niman, a trained ethnographer, is author of People of the Rainbow: A
Nomadic Utopia (2nd edition 2011 - Univ. of Tennessee Press), an ethnography of a nomadic
utopian society stemming from qualitative research conducted in Pennsylvania, Wyoming,
Minnesota, Vermont, Missouri, New York, California and Quebec, Canada. Niman’s research
agenda currently focuses on propaganda, the impact of consumer culture, temporary
autonomous zones, nonviolent conflict resolution and nonhierarchical societies and
movements. Niman formerly worked as a journalist based in Costa Rica and has conducted
fieldwork in Canada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the United Kingdom, Cuba and Belize.

Books

Link

People of the Rainbow; A Nomadic Utopia (2nd Edition) (2011)
 
People of the Rainbow; A Nomadic Utopia (1997)
 

Chapters in Books

Link

Die Zombie Newspapers Die: The Dailies Really Died a Generation Ago, and Now Their Corpses are Following Suit, Censored 2010 (2010)
 

PDF

The Political Tsunami: Not all Death and Destruction is Natural, Tsunami Communication: Interpersonal/Intercultural, Mass Media, and Philanthropic Responses; Historical, Technical, Ethical and Development Communication (2010)
 

PDF

You Can’t Be Nonviolent Without Violence: The Rainbow Family’s Nonkilling Nomadic Utopia and its Survival of Persistent State Violence, NonKilling Societies (2010)
 

PDF

Racism and New York’s Anti-Indian Casino Movement, Shoot the Indian: Media, Misperception & Native Truth (2007)
 

e-Books

Link

Getting a Grip '05: A weekly look at the media and America in the 21st Century (2005)
 

Link

Getting a Grip '04: A weekly look at the media and America in the 21st Century (2004)
 

Link

Getting a Grip 2003: A weekly look at the media and America in the 21st Century, Coldtype (2003)
 

Academic Journal Articles

PDF

The Shanti Sena “Peace Center” and the Non-Policing of an Anarchist Temporary Autonomous Zone: Rainbow Family Peacekeeping Strategies, Contemporary Justice Review (2011)
 
Branding Cuba: La Vida Nike, Democratic Communique (2002)
 

Popular Press

Link

Bully Politics, ArtVoice (2012)
 

Link

6 Scary Extreme Energy Sources Being Tapped to Fuel the Post Peak Oil Economy, Alternet (2012)
 

Link

Son of Frackenstein, ArtVoice (2012)
 

Link

Legalizing Sexual Harrassment & Legislating Rape: Republican Statehouses Declare War on Women, ArtVoice (2012)
 

Link

The Republican Implosion Myth: How Republicans Are Winning, Truthout / ArtVoice (2012)
 

View More »

Documentary Film

Fat Kids (short documentary) (with Jonathan Kalafer) (2010)
 

Link

We Love You (with Jonathan Kalafer and Steve Kalafer) (2009)
 

Link

2004 The Under-Reported Stories: Michael Niman (with Snowshoe Films) (2005)
 

Encyclopedia Entries

Link

Ararat, Encyclopedia of New York State (2005)
 

Book Reviews

Book Review of Media Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain. (with Laura J. McClusky Ph.D.), Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly (2003)
 

Academic Conference Presentations

Link

Closing Keynote Address: “Naming the Crisis: Contextualizing Disaster.”, 37th Annual Conference of the Eastern Community College Social Sciences Association (2011)
 

Link

Steamable Video of "Naming the Crisis: Contextualizing Disaster", 37th Annual Conference of the Eastern Community College Social Sciences Association (2011)
 
Cops Gone Wild: A Forensic Sociological Deconstruction of a Police Riot., New York State Sociological Association Annual Conference (2010)
 
When Cops Go Wild: A Case Study in the Communication of Fear and its Role in Provoking Police Riots, Union for Democratic Communication International Conference (2010)
 
The Future of Capitalism (Invited Plenary Panal Participant), Fourth Cross-Border Post Keynesian Conference (2009)
 

View More »

Invited Public Lectures

We Love You - Film Contextualization and Manuscript Reading, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (2010)
 
Filming Utopia: The Challenges of Visual Ethnography., Filming Utopia: The Challenges of Visual Ethnography. (2008)
 
At War With Oneself: Trauma, Propaganda, Racism and War (with Brian Machelski), Wells College - College-wide speaker sponsored by the Departments of Sociology/Anthropology, Women’s Studies, Public Affairs and Religious Studies (2006)
 

Link

War Propaganda and the Language of Fascism, Chautauqua Institute (2006)
 
Cornell University Hope Not Hate Town Hall on US-Islamic Relations., Cornell University History Department, the Cornell University Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Cornell University chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy (2004)
 

View More »

Radio Documentary Interview

Link

NPR Radio Documentary Interview - Peace Lessons of the Rainbow Gatherings, KUNM Radio (2009)