New Podcast: Organize the Unorganized
Jacobin’s limited podcast Organize the Unorganized tells the story of the CIO and the 1930s and ’40s labor upsurge with the help of historians and activists. Start listening today.
20415 Article(s) by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
John Fetterman Keeps Defending the Indefensible in Gaza
Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman has always been staunchly pro-Israel, but the events of the last few months have shined a particularly harsh light on his indifference to Palestinians.
Poor Things Is a Light and Gorgeous Lanthimos Fantasy That Could Use More Weight
Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film, is gorgeous, thought-provoking, and wonderfully acted. All it’s missing is some more weight behind its feminist spirit.
Democratic Socialists Are Running for School Board — and Winning
Democratic socialists want a society where robustly funded public institutions ensure that all families and children can flourish. Winning school board seats, as democratic socialists are doing across the country, is a good way to make that vision a reality.
Health Insurance Giants’ Directories Are Falsely Listing In-Network Providers
Many health insurers’ online provider directories are inaccurate or out of date. With no recourse for the negligence of insurance companies, providers and patients alike are suffering the consequences.
Erdoğan Is No Friend of Palestine
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s fiery statements condemning Israel may seem bold, but Turkey’s trade relations with Israel tell a different story. In the end, Erdoğan’s bluster is a cynical attempt to shore up eroding support among his base.
Floh de Cologne: “I’d Rather Be a Communist Than a Stooge for the System”
Theatrical in their performances and Marxist in their politics, Floh de Cologne were one of the most remarkable bands to come out of West Germany’s Krautrock scene. The band tells Jacobin about their time as Europe’s only communist prog-rockers.
Classical Marxism: An Intellectual History
The Invention of Marxism is a rich group biography of the founding generation of socialists, who introduced millions to Karl Marx’s ideas. Even where it falls short, its details still charm and provoke interest.
Eugene V. Debs’s Wisdom for the New Year
During World War I, Eugene V. Debs saw socialism as the “star of hope” that might redeem a world wracked by violence. Read his message of renewal as we leave a war-torn year behind and head into a new one.
2023 Was a Bad Year for Movies. Here Were the Best.
When it came to movies this year, the junk outstripped the gems. But three films rose above the muck.
The Best Books We Read This Year
Dive into Jacobin’s “best books of the year” list. From sweeping 19th-century tales of rural life to the politics of war to contemporary accounts of revolution — we’ve got your reading needs covered.
In 2023, the US Working Class Fought Back
More than half a million workers in the US went on strike this year, winning gains not only for themselves but for nonunion workers too. While there’s much more work to be done, 2023 was a year when the working class punched back at the capitalist class.
2023 Was a Year of Hope Amid the Horrors
This year had plenty of horrors. But there was also much cause for hope, from the burgeoning pro-Palestine movement to the UAW’s historic strike.
J. Edgar Hoover’s American Century
As director of the FBI for several decades, J. Edgar Hoover helped build a massive, professionalized national security state and hounded leftists out of public life. In doing so, he profoundly shaped the course of US history.
South Africa Is Right to Invoke the Genocide Convention Against Israel’s War on Gaza
South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice to rule that Israel is guilty of “genocidal acts” in Gaza. The architects of the Genocide Convention intended it to be used to stop the mass killing of civilians before it is too late.
The Essential Guide to Jacobin
Jacobin has been putting out socialist content at a rapid clip since 2010. Here’s a handy guide to some of the most important works from our archive, from our humble beginnings to the present day.
How Europe Made Indebted African States Into Its Border Police
Since 2015, the EU has increasingly demanded that African states repress migration on its behalf. It secures their compliance through economic coercion — exploiting debt relations which have in recent times sharply turned in favor of rich EU countries.
Unearthing the Often Overlooked Religious Foundations of European Socialism
The diverse mosaic of European socialism engaged both reformists and revolutionaries, often driven by not just intellect but also profound religious conviction. Together, these elements shaped the democratic socialist tradition.
C. L. R. James Showed Us How to Write About the Social History of Sports
Beyond a Boundary turned 60 this year. The classic book by C. L. R. James used cricket as a window into the history of the West Indies as its people liberated themselves from British colonial rule, defying racism to find their place in the world as equals.
Bayard Rustin Showed the Promise and Pitfalls of Coalition Politics
At the height of a calamitous war presided over by a Democratic president, the brilliant socialist organizer Bayard Rustin tried to forge a mass coalition to deliver progressive change. His failure to do so in the 1960s tells us much about building one today.