Agathe Dorra is a PhD researcher in political aesthetics at King’s College London
When Joe Biden became president, he ended the contracting of prisons to private corporations — with one glaring exception: ICE. Today, over 70 percent of immigrant detainees are being held in privately owned prisons.
Capitalist society can only ever legalize cannabis in a way that benefits the already wealthy. Why not put the newly legal weed industry in the hands of the public and away from the profit motive?
New legislation in Spain will ensure free, publicly provided abortions and allow menstrual leave from work. The raft of measures shows left-wing party Unidas Podemos’s strong feminist stance — but faces obstruction from the country’s hard-right judiciary.
The hotly anticipated sequel to Top Gun, the 1986 movie that made Tom Cruise a star, is raking in cash, great reviews, and even Oscar buzz. Don’t be fooled — it’s the same glorified military recruitment video that the original was.
Today, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history, will celebrate 70 years as head of state. Throughout its existence, the monarchy has entrenched a culture of deference to authority. It’s incompatible with the values of a democracy.
The Joe Biden administration enacted the highest Medicare premium hikes in history last week. Most of the profits will be funneled to the private insurance companies that funded Biden’s presidential campaign.
Putin’s disastrous gamble in Ukraine has left the West in a strong position to craft a peace that would underscore the futility of Russia’s aggression. But there are worrying signs that the Biden administration might be unwilling to accept peace on any terms.
Climate and labor activists are coming together to hammer out ambitious but realistic plans for massively expanding the clean-energy sector in a way that also creates good union jobs. For both paychecks and the planet, it’s the only path forward.
Texas already bans abortion after six weeks and has a trigger law to ban it entirely if Roe v. Wade is repealed. But Austin City Council members may have found a loophole, modeled after marijuana decriminalization, to protect local abortion access.
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For years, Thomas Piketty has articulated a cogent critique of 21st-century capitalism. He now appears to be moving beyond just critique to call for a 21st-century socialism.
Europe’s partial ban on Russian oil is forcing states to look for alternative energy sources. But Berlin’s shifting positions show that Germany’s concern is its own power on the world market — with green issues little more than a fig leaf.
A trial in Italy threatens volunteers who rescued people at sea with up to two decades in jail. The case shows how Fortress Europe is cracking down on even basic, lifesaving solidarity with migrants.
Conspiracy theories are way more exciting than political economy, and Canada’s Pierre Poilievre is exploiting the thrill of paranoia for political gain. The Left must counter these impulses with analyses of worker exploitation — and a program for change.
On March 8, 2020, thousands across Latin America participated in an international strike to protest gender-based inequality. The movement has attempted to redefine the politics of strikes by acknowledging the value of reproductive labor.
As the Western far right promotes “great replacement” theory, the Indian right accuses Muslims of trying to outnumber the Hindu majority. After Buffalo’s mass shooting, Joe Biden condemned the former — then praised Narendra Modi, who repeats the latter.
Capitalism creates social disorder and relies on police and prisons to manage it. Until liberals recognize this link between criminal justice and the economy, their reform programs will be ineffectual — and racist policing and mass incarceration will persist.
Polish economist Michał Kalecki argued that capitalists would always resist full employment because it increases the confidence and bargaining power of workers. He was right — so right that even the Fed has now begun citing his ideas.
The Biden administration has been floating the possibility of a means-tested cancellation of $10,000 of student debt. There’s no reason not to cancel every penny instead.
Belgium was a pioneer of industrialization, and class struggle by its workers’ movement created one of Europe’s most impressive welfare states. But with regional divisions now dominating Belgian politics, the country’s long-term survival is deeply uncertain.