Being Against Capitalism Isn’t Enough
Socialists need more than a critique of capitalism. We need a concrete account of how a socialist economy could work — and make ordinary people’s lives better.
222 Article(s) by: Bhaskar Sunkara
Bhaskar Sunkara is the founding editor of Jacobin, the president of the Nation magazine, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.
Getting Fired from Mother Jones Made Michael Moore
In 1986, Michael Moore didn’t want to run Paul Berman’s article on Nicaragua. Getting pushed out of Mother Jones turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to his career.
Against the Politics of Communal Fear
We can take antisemitism seriously without making communal identity the organizing principle of public life.
Economic Democracy Is at the Heart of Socialism
Democracy should not end when the workday begins. Workers deserve a say over how their workplaces are run — and a claim on the wealth they create.
Social Democracy Won the Century and Lost the Future
Social democracy transformed the 20th century, giving working people a share of wealth and power their grandparents could scarcely imagine. But the movement that set out to overcome capitalism ultimately struggled to defend what it had won within it.
Jonathan Chait Doesn’t Understand the Socialists He’s Attacking
Jonathan Chait’s Atlantic essay claims the Democratic Socialists of America has betrayed the legacy of its founder, Michael Harrington. It gets DSA’s history, and what the organization is today, wrong.
Reforming Capitalism Is Not Enough
The era of class compromise is never coming back. Any serious democratic socialist politics must pursue a politics of rupture with capitalism.
Rebuilding the Socialist Horizon
Bhaskar Sunkara reflects on the rise, defeat, and possible renewal of socialism — and on the generations of ordinary people who fought to build a world beyond class domination.
We Need a Socialism After Capitalism
Socialism cannot mean merely managing capitalism more fairly. It must point toward a society where survival is no longer contingent on the market — and where democracy extends into the economy itself.
Inside Venezuela’s Response to Donald Trump’s Attack
A former Venezuelan diplomat speaks to Jacobin about how the state, military, and popular forces are responding to US military aggression — and what comes next.
Zohran Needs to Create Popular Assemblies
If Zohran Mamdani is serious about delivering on his promises, he needs more than policies — he needs institutions that empower working people. Popular assemblies offer a way to build a new, bottom-up political culture in New York City.
Politics Is Something We Do
The hard part is over. The harder part is about to start.
Ezra Klein on Abundance and the Left
“When the state can’t deliver, people stop believing in collective solutions altogether.”
The Goal of Socialism Is Everything
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoralty will be a fight for what’s winnable right now. Our job is to let that fight expand, not narrow, our horizon — and to keep alive the goal of socialism in our time.
Abundance and the Left
Ezra Klein talks with Bhaskar Sunkara about Abundance, Zohran Mamdani’s victory, and why progressives need a state that works at the speed of their ambitions.
Shawn Fain: “Solidarity Doesn’t Stop at the Border”
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain lays out the union’s vision for rewriting trade rules, raising wages across North America, and challenging the race to the bottom.
Your Party: A Left for Itself
The farcical spat that has riven Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s “Your Party” exposes a Left increasingly focused on itself rather than on the class it aims to mobilize.
What Americans Think of Democratic Socialism
A new national poll shows democratic socialism has made enormous strides over the last decade. But to grow beyond blue strongholds, its champions will need to continue to anchor campaigns in bread-and-butter economics.
Jacobin Turns 15 Today
Here’s why we still publish.
Can Zohran Mamdani Expand the Left’s Base?
As Zohran Mamdani mounts a surging campaign for NYC mayor, his bid is becoming a model to replicate for the next wave of the US left. Can he expand his appeal to working-class demographics the Left has so far struggled to reach?