From Socialism to Populism and Back

Why Aufstehen Failed

After drawing a flurry of attention last fall, Sahra Wagenknecht’s Aufstehen movement has run out of steam. Yet its call for the German left to reconnect with working-class voters remains unanswered — and is the far right is taking advantage.

Issue 35: Letters + The Internet Speaks

Because communication is at the heart of any good relationship.

Bootstrap Populism

Rallying behind “free enterprise” mythology, American capitalists have long claimed to be gritty underdogs facing off against a rising statism.

Expert Wisdom

Too often just a term of abuse, some academics have attempted coherent definitions of populism.

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Abolish Iowa

The Iowa State Fair is a depraved showcase of how vacuous and pointless US politics is today.

Fear of a Populist Planet

“Populism” is today employed as a bogeyman by liberals and centrists alike. Is there anything worth salvaging in the concept?

The Geography of Resentment

Deindustrialized areas that were once bastions of working-class politics are now playgrounds of the revanchist right.

We Bet the House on Left Populism — and Lost

Four years ago, we celebrated Europe’s left-populist push. Now we have to look seriously at how little was accomplished and what might have been lost.

I Want My BBC

British television has increasingly become an arm of the Conservative Party — yet many on the Left nostalgically remember an earlier, more open media landscape. Was the BBC ever ours?

The Preppy Populist

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has transformed himself from bow-tied libertarian to economic populist. But his hostility to the politics of solidarity remains intact.

At Age 83, Ken Loach Is Still Dangerous

After years in the wilderness, first with Thatcherism, then with New Labour, both the Left and British director Ken Loach are just hitting their prime.

The Left Is Back (Sort Of)

But we’re nothing without our universal subject — the international working class.

“Populism” and the Significance of Left and Right

In the United States, the Populist tradition has always defined left-wing and egalitarian politics, unfairly maligned by bosses and intellectuals alike.

A Letter From Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister of Australia

Kevin Rudd was once prime minister of Australia. Now he’s writing Jacobin angry letters. Here he defends his record on climate change.

The Struggle for Democracy in Sri Lanka

In the push and pull between authoritarianism and democracy in Sri Lanka, the former has won out more often than not. But the fact that the country is not a full-blown dictatorship today is a testament to a spirit of resistance that can’t be snuffed out.

The Far Right Is Growing in Uruguay

Uruguay goes to the polls today for its second-round general election. The outcome is unclear, but a new coalition between mainstream and far-right parties sets a worrying new precedent in Latin American politics.

How Chicago Teachers Won a Nurse in Every School

The recent Chicago Teachers Union strike put adequate school staffing at its center, including putting a nurse in every school. A school nurse explains how the union won that demand.

The American Federation of Teachers Isn’t Standing Against Austerity in Puerto Rico

In the midst of brutal austerity measures carried out by an undemocratic junta in Puerto Rico, unions should play a central role in fighting back. Yet only one teachers’ union, the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, is leading that fight — while another, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, is partnering with it.