Municipal Socialism Is Working in Preston
In Britain, even as the Labour Party is in turmoil at the national level, left-wing city councils in places like Preston are bringing socialist policies to life at the local level.
19079 Articles by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
Kevin Rudd’s “Fourth Way” Proves the Australian Labor Party Is Out of Ideas
Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd has come up with a plan for Labor that he calls the “Fourth Way.” But on closer inspection, Rudd’s would-be alternative is a rehash of the timid, conservative approach to politics that has kept Labor out of power for a decade.
The Colombian Government’s War on Protesters
After six weeks of massive protests against neoliberalism and state violence in Colombia, right-wing president Iván Duque is relying on brute force to stay in power.
Conservative Opponents of Critical Race Theory Are Pushing Their Own Propaganda
Conservatives are rushing to ban “critical race theory” from public schools, arguing it is ahistorical propaganda. But their own version of US history is a sterilized, hagiographic account that closes off connecting the issues of yesteryear with the problems of the present.
The Academic Culture War Comes to Denmark
Denmark’s parliament has condemned campus radicals’ political agenda for “undermining scholarly inquiry.” But the mainstream use of disciplines like economics shows that scholarship has always been political — the powerful just don’t like research that challenges their interests.
Did They Just Turn Cruella de Vil Into a Girl Boss?
Disney has rebooted their legendary dalmatian-skinning villain, Cruella de Vil — and turned her into a scrappy, likable hero. The result is the complete mangling of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time.
In a Village Named After Franco, Spain Is Struggling to Overcome the Fascist Past
One of the three hundred settlements founded by Franco’s regime, the village of Llanos del Caudillo is still today named in homage to the dictator. Villagers’ nostalgia for his regime reflects Spain’s failure to reckon with its past — and the ongoing struggle to gain recognition for fascism’s victims.
The Australian Communist Author Who Lent His Voice to the Gurindji Strike
In 1966, Aboriginal stockmen, domestic workers, and their families at Wave Hill cattle station started a nine-year strike against work conditions that amounted to slavery. Frank Hardy, a communist author, helped the strikers tell their story to the world.
Ilhan Omar’s Critics Want Impunity for US and Israeli War Crimes
Democratic Party leaders have accused Ilhan Omar of “moral equivalency” because she rejected the brazen double standard underpinning US foreign policy. But Omar is right: murderous violence against civilians is no less criminal when Israel or the United States are the perpetrators.
The Hunger Games Prequel, Songbirds, Is a Satire on the Ruling Class
Novelist Suzanne Collins has returned with a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. This time, she writes about the fictional world of Panem from the perspective of its ruling class, which makes her satire on our own society all the more cutting.
In Defense of Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Zizek has made some serious missteps in recent years — but he remains an important theorist for the Left in our postmodern, neoliberal era.
Ilhan Omar Has Absolutely Nothing to Apologize For
Yet again, both Republican and Democratic party leaders are attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar for telling the truth about American and Israeli war crimes. And yet again, Omar has nothing to apologize for.
We Need Class Politics to End Our Second Gilded Age
We talk with historian Matt Karp about how ending our great age of inequality will take a renewed working-class politics.
New York Democrats Seem to Be Giving Up on State-Level Medicare for All
Under pressure from labor leaders and insurance executives, New York Democratic leaders are blocking a vote on single-payer health care legislation in the state — even though it has majority support in the legislature.
Gerry Harvey Is an Emblem of Australia’s Corrupt Economic System
Australian retail billionaire Gerry Harvey has rightly been vilified for describing COVID-19 as an opportunity for profitmaking. But Harvey was just stating the facts: the pandemic has enabled his class to get even richer off the backs of the working class.
A For-Profit Housing System Can’t Eliminate Racial Inequality
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s book Race for Profit reveals a basic truth about homeownership in a for-profit housing system: it can never produce equitable, just outcomes and dignified housing for all.
Central American Asylum Seekers Should Be Welcomed by the US, Not Shunned
Without a change in US policy toward Guatemala and all of Central America, the thousands of asylum seekers fleeing violence and poverty will continue to come — no matter what Joe Biden or Kamala Harris say.
Noam Chomsky: The Elites Are Fighting a Vicious Class War All the Time
Noam Chomsky talks to Jacobin about why working-class politics can secure universal health care, climate justice, and an end to nuclear weapons — if we’re willing to fight for them.
Left-Wing Trade Unionist Pedro Castillo Will Be President of Peru
Peru was the birthplace of neoliberal populism under Alberto Fujimori. Now Pedro Castillo, a socialist trade unionist from an indigenous background, has won its presidency.
GOP Attorneys General Are Defending the Climate Criminals
Bankrolled by oil and gas, Republican attorneys general are trying to derail a landmark environmental case at the last minute.