French socialist leader Jules Guesde established the first working-class party in modern history and popularized the ideas of Karl Marx at a crucial time. It’s impossible to imagine the subsequent history of Marxism and the French left without Guesde.
Wabtec Train Manufacturing Workers Are on Strike
Workers at the Wabtec locomotive manufacturing plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, have walked off the job. Their demands get to the heart of bigger questions about the nature of work and the role workers can play in fights like climate change.
Texas’s “Death Star Bill” Is an Attack on Workers and Democracy
The newly passed HB 2127 is yet another attempt by the GOP-controlled state legislature to impose minority rule over the state of Texas. It’s the working class that will pay the price — and the working class that must organize to fight back.
Academic Workers at the University of Washington Just Went on Strike and Won
At the University of Washington, 2,400 postdocs and academic researchers went on strike and won raises. We talked to two workers about walking out, in the face of what they describe as attempts by UW to intimidate and retaliate against strikers.
Samuel Alito Could Go Up to Bat for His Billionaire Friend Again
The hedge fund Elliott Management, whose owner has lavishly entertained Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito, has argued that recent anti-fraud rules from the SEC are unconstitutional — and could try to bring a case before Alito to strike them down.
The Kennedys, the Mob, and the FBI — the Rat Pack’s legendary 1962 residency at the Villa Venice brought the secret power structure of postwar America under one roof.
Socialists Love Public Parks Because They Belong to Everyone
Socialists have a noble history fighting for more and better public parks — not just because everyone loves the park, but because public goods like parks are a challenge to the logic of capitalism.
The United States Wants to Poison Ukraine to Save It
Depleted uranium has been linked to an explosion of cancers and birth defects in Iraq and is rejected even by US allies. So why is the Biden administration approving its use in Ukraine?
Why Did Democrats Embrace the Far-Right Narendra Modi?
During an official state visit, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has been feted and praised despite his Hindu nationalism and right-wing policies — even by Democrats.
No Matter How Rich You Are, You Can’t Own the Sea
The deaths aboard the Titan submersible are a tragedy — a tragedy born of the hubris of the ultra-wealthy.
Critics say Marxism can’t account for the popular appeal of nationalism. But the Marxist tradition contains some vital insights into the origins and future of national communities.
The Revolutions of 1848 Should Be a Historical Touchstone for Socialists Today
Christopher Clark’s Revolutionary Spring is a gripping account of Europe’s 1848 revolutions. The questions raised by those movements and their ultimate defeat are still vitally important for socialist politics in our own time.
In the Long Run of Human Civilization and Climate Change, We’re All Dead
Peter Frankopan’s epic history of humanity and the environment offers sweeping perspectives on anthropogenic climate change, but little hope of resolving it.
Public Schools Have Been Made to Answer for Capitalism’s Crimes
Unwilling to disrupt the economic system that created mass inequality, liberals invested schools with magical powers to fix a broken society. When public schools failed to clean up capitalism’s mess, they ended up on the chopping block.
Britain’s Great Labor Revolt Was a High Point of Working-Class Power
In the years leading up to World War I, Britain was rocked by an unprecedented upsurge of labor militancy. Millions of workers began to learn their own strength and posed a major challenge to the social order.