The Legacy of Taft-Hartley
Seventy years ago, the Taft-Hartley Act ushered in “right-to-work” laws and imposed draconian restrictions on workers’ rights. The labor movement still hasn’t recovered.
21007 Article(s) by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
Reds Save You Green
Just until Christmas, Jacobin gift subscriptions are only $10.
Wobblies of the World, Unite
True to its name, the Industrial Workers of the World spanned the globe — an international history that has long been forgotten.
The Golden Era
Between October 1917 and April 1918, the Bolshevik government enacted the most radically democratic platform in history.
A Majority in the Making
Chile’s reinvigorated left is ready to finally vanquish Pinochet’s legacy and reclaim democracy for the many.
Lessons From the First Red Century
“We want a left that can learn from 1917 Russia and 1976 Sweden.”
The Ghost of the Mechanical Turk
Digital microwork in the Middle East exploits occupation, war, and neoliberalism to extract the cheapest labor possible.
A Rough Night at the Opera
John Adams and Peter Sellars’s Girls of the Golden West is bland, poorly staged liberalism.
New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
At this weekend’s ANC congress, South Africa doesn’t need a new leader, it needs a new economy.
That’s Just Capitalism
Sure, rigged, “crony capitalism” generates enormous inequality. But unrigged capitalism does the same thing.
Debating Black Freedom
A look back at Liberator, an anticolonial magazine that operated during a golden age for black radical publications.
Ed Lee (1952–2017)
Under Ed Lee, San Francisco was remade into a playground for tech capitalists and real estate developers.
The Jerusalem Gambit
The United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as part of its decades-long support of Israeli colonialism.
Capitalism and Freedom
Why do conservatives like capitalism? Because it keeps in place the hierarchies they cherish.
Movable Empire
The story of how America’s imperial quest for labor shaped the hemisphere’s working class.
The “Death Tax” Cargo Cult
With its assault on the estate tax, the GOP is demonstrating that it’s not even under the thumb of the 1 percent, but the 0.2 percent.
Whatever Happened to Cool Britannia?
1997 was a cultural watershed for a new, “cool” neoliberalism.
Reflections on Anti-Communism
Throughout history, anti-communism has aided the forces of tyranny and reaction — not democracy and freedom.
Catastrophe and Colonialism
Hurricane Maria brutally exposed the crisis of Puerto Rico’s colonial status.
Taming the Antislavery Revolution
The Civil War wasn’t just a struggle against the South. It was an ideological battle within the heart of Northern society.