Throughout the entire history of left-wing and working-class organizing in the United States, the participation in and building of institutions of political education has been key.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/09110628/GettyImages-475500992-420x315.jpg)
The Case for Social Drinking
Americans are trading bar culture for wellness apps and mocktails. But despite alcohol’s many shortcomings, our national sobering up is not a simple cause for celebration. We’re also losing social spaces and traditions in an increasingly alienated society.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/08151348/GettyImages-2185933741-420x315.jpg)
Trump’s Purges May Mean Less Oversight for Musk’s Businesses
Donald Trump has fired more than a dozen inspectors general, officials who provide independent oversight of federal agencies. At least five of them worked at agencies with previous or ongoing investigations of Elon Musk’s business practices.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/08145639/GettyImages-2185812250-420x315.jpg)
The Five Star Movement Turns to the Left, Belatedly
Italy’s Five Star Movement was long a classic “populist” movement, rejecting ideological labels. Its recent decision to join the left-wing group in the EU parliament is the latest step in a turn toward a more distinctly pro-labor, pacifist stance.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/08094006/GettyImages-2197886436-420x315.jpg)
Finally, a Trump Opposition?
Up against a far worse assault on government and the basic components of democracy than in 2017, an opposition force to Donald Trump and Elon Musk may be cohering.
The sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s decades-long rule after December’s lightning rebel offensive has left a sense of cautious hope among Syria’s youth. Our reporter traveled to Damascus to document their hopes and fears.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07155759/GettyImages-2197217407-420x315.jpg)
Center Left Props Up Emmanuel Macron’s Austerity Coalition
France’s Parti Socialiste abstained in a confidence vote this week, allowing Emmanuel Macron’s allies to push through an austerity budget. Even as the president’s popularity flounders, the establishment center left chose to prop up his rule.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/08120418/GettyImages-2194254236-420x315.jpg)
Chemical Companies Want Trump’s EPA to Keep Their Secrets
Every year, dozens of accidents occur at high-risk chemical facilities. The chemical industry is pushing Donald Trump’s EPA to delete a public database that at least lets residents know whether a potential disaster could take place in their backyard.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07165822/GettyImages-1496999770-420x315.jpg)
Developers Lobby to Keep Building, Water Shortages Be Damned
Amid dangerous droughts, Arizona officials have attempted to address groundwater shortages by limiting development in the Phoenix metro area. Real estate interests have launched a dark money legal campaign to overturn the precedent-setting regulations.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07112109/GettyImages-2193767874-420x315.jpg)
Population Decline Will Transform Our Social World
Population growth has been slowing and even reversing in many countries, a trend with far-reaching social implications that looks certain to continue.
A Jacobin investigation reveals how Iraq’s southern marshes, the birthplace of early civilization, face ruin from environmental and political mismanagement. As the water disappears, so too does a 5,000-year-old culture.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07123017/GettyImages-1143562493-420x315.jpg)
Cracking the Right’s Playbook
A new book explores how the radical right has reshaped political conflict, challenging the Left’s anemic response. The book’s provocations urge the Left to reconsider its strategic approach in the face of an increasingly successful global movement.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07094855/GettyImages-2194958315-420x315.jpg)
Big Companies Are Already Asking Trump for Favors
Amazon helped fund Donald Trump’s inauguration. The retail giant and the insurer UnitedHealth waited less than a day to start begging the new administration to shut down their shareholders’ calls for transparency.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07111356/GettyImages-1239847540-420x315.jpg)
Puerto Rico’s Radical History Is Being Rediscovered
Jorell Meléndez-Badillo worked with trap superstar Bad Bunny on his new album to inform fans about Puerto Rico’s history of popular struggle. His work as a historian is part of an important political moment that Puerto Ricans are now going through.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/07080009/GettyImages-1787690435-420x315.jpg)
How Emmanuel Macron Fell in Love With Africa’s Last Colony
Morocco is increasingly a focus of European alliance-building and investment, including in illegally occupied Western Sahara. French president Emmanuel Macron is leading moves to normalize the colony, despite rulings by the EU’s own courts.