Cory Doctorow Explains Why Big Tech Is Making the Internet Terrible
The internet is increasingly a miserable place to be. As Cory Doctorow explains, Silicon Valley CEOs and grifters are working hard to keep it that way.
20980 Article(s) by: Agathe Dorra
Agathe Dorra is a PhD researcher in political aesthetics at King’s College London
The Proud Boys’ Conviction Is Big News. Their Role as FBI Informants, Not So Much.
Almost none of the reports about Thursday’s conviction of four Proud Boys members mentioned the fact that the far-right group was riddled with FBI informants. But this kind of law enforcement collusion with the far right is a profound threat to democracy.
Ireland’s Housing Crisis Is an Indictment of Irish Capitalism
A dysfunctional housing system is putting intense strain on Ireland’s social fabric as rents spiral out of control. The current malaise has deep roots in the structure of Irish capitalism, and radical reform is the only way to turn things around.
King Charles Is King of the World’s Biggest Tax Haven Empire
The glitz and glamour of Coronation Day will cover it up, but the tax havens of King Charles’s Britain aid and abet multinational corporations — enriching elites at the expense of everyone else.
Canadians Don’t Want Charles, or Anyone Else, to Be Their King
The British monarchy is a withered husk that should be put out of its misery.
Lula Is Working to Revive Brazil’s Democracy Against a Powerful Far-Right Bloc
Since taking office as president, Lula has had to navigate a treacherous path, facing a powerful ultraconservative bloc in Brazil’s national congress. The job of repairing state capacity while avoiding an economic downturn will test his skills to the limit.
Mainstream Media Doesn’t Care That the CIA May Have Helped Cause 9/11
In an obscure court filing, dozens of former FBI agents and others allege that an illegal CIA operation on US soil accidentally facilitated the 9/11 attacks. It should be a bombshell — if only anyone in the establishment would notice.
Asset-Manager Firms Are Taking Over the Social Infrastructure on Which We All Depend
Asset-manager firms like Blackstone have become hugely important players in global capitalism since the 2008 crash. They’re steadily taking control of the social infrastructure that’s essential for human life and using it to generate massive profits.
Oakland Educators Are Striking to Fix Austerity-Starved Public Schools
On Thursday morning, nearly 3,000 public school teachers and support staff in Oakland, California, went on strike. Educators say they’re striking to solve an austerity-driven crisis of understaffing and retention.
Brandon Johnson Should Meet the Threat From Private Capital Head On
Working-class reformer Brandon Johnson will soon be inaugurated Chicago’s next mayor, and already businesses are threatening to undermine his agenda. Johnson and the movement behind him should challenge those threats directly by asserting public control of capital.
Eric Adams Is Trying to Push More Austerity on New Yorkers Through His Executive Budget
The New York City budget newly proposed by Mayor Eric Adams had little democratic input from average residents in the city and features more massive cuts to desperately needed public programs like public education.
Fordham Graduate Workers Just Went on Strike for Their First Contract
Last week, graduate student workers at Fordham University in the Bronx went on a three-day strike in response, they say, to the administration’s refusal to bargain in good faith. Jacobin spoke to some of the grad workers.
Marianne Williamson: Democrats Need a “Genuine Economic Alternative” to Beat the GOP in 2024
In an interview, 2024 Democratic presidential contender Marianne Williamson discusses her criticisms of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party establishment.
Bill Andersen Was New Zealand’s Leading Communist and Trade Union Leader
By the 1970s, New Zealand’s union movement had grown to become powerful, popular, and left-wing. This was in large part thanks to leaders like Bill Anderson, whose organizing skills were matched by his political vision.
Wall Street Is Holding a Gun to Mobile Home Residents’ Heads
In mobile home parks around the country, millions of tenants and owners are being mercilessly exploited and regularly evicted, often by giant Wall Street firms like Blackstone.
Bernie Sanders: Billionaires Shouldn’t Exist
In a recent interview, Bernie Sanders was forced to defend his position that billionaires shouldn’t exist to an exasperated Chris Wallace. Sanders is absolutely right: a humane system wouldn’t produce such dramatic disparities in the distribution of resources.
We Can Build Pro-Worker Cities
Progressives at the city level face all sorts of constraints, from business interests to hostile state legislatures. But we shouldn’t preemptively clip our wings: left reformers like Chicago’s Brandon Johnson can transform cities into pro-worker havens.
Adolph Reed: We Must Avoid Race Reductionism
The black population in the United States is roughly the size of the population of Spain. Yet too many ignore class differences and political complexities among millions of African Americans.
Christian Rakovsky’s Life and Death Mirrored the Fate of European Marxism
Born in Bulgaria, Christian Rakovsky became a major leader of the Russian Revolution who wanted the Soviet Union to be a true partnership of nations. But when Rakovsky challenged Stalin’s dictatorship, he was tried and executed on a trumped-up charge.
April Showers Bring Workers’ Power
When and where organized labor’s been on the move.