The Impossible Escape From the European Union
Neoliberalism is embedded in the European Union’s DNA. But for the continent’s left, there are few good alternatives.
110 Articles by: Daniel Denvir
Daniel Denvir is the author of All-American Nativism and the host of The Dig on Jacobin Radio.
How Capitalism Worms Its Way Into Every Aspect of Our Lives
Marxists have a powerful critique of exploitation in the capitalist workplace, but our analysis can’t stop there. A comprehensive analysis of capitalism, Nancy Fraser argues, must also account for the social relations that make the official economy possible.
Neoliberalism Was a Counterrevolution Against Democracy
A group of 20th-century intellectuals saw the democratic nation-state as a threat to private property. Their solution: shifting power to unaccountable international bodies like the WTO, helping pave the way to what we now call “neoliberalism.”
The ACLU’s Drift From Radical to Neutral Tells the Story of Modern American Liberalism
Once an arm of the radical labor movement, the ACLU now defends free speech as a neutral principle — including the anti-union speech of bosses and the political speech of corporations. The story of the ACLU’s evolution is the story of liberalism itself.
Mike Davis Revisits His 1986 Labor History Classic, Prisoners of the American Dream
The late socialist writer Mike Davis’s first book was Prisoners of the American Dream, a deep exploration of how the US labor movement became so weakened. Nearly four decades later, Davis revisited the book in an interview with Jacobin.
Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò: “Oppression Is Not a Prep School”
In activist and academic circles, privileged people are expected to automatically defer to marginalized people on issues of oppression. Philosopher Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argues that this norm kills solidarity and replaces effective politics with endless navel-gazing.
The Prison-Industrial Complex Goes Beyond Cops and Jails. It’s All Around Us.
Police and mass incarceration are only the most visible and obvious manifestations of the prison-industrial complex. Ruth Wilson Gilmore argues that the prison-industrial complex is a holistic social organizing principle that pervades life under capitalism.
Corporate Interests Are Inflaming US-China Tensions
In a global economy defined by overproduction and underconsumption, American and Chinese corporations are struggling to extract profits from developing nations. Without massive wealth redistribution, consumption won’t return to stable levels.
What Chinese Capitalists Owe to Mao Zedong
China did not develop capitalism during the 18th century, despite having a market economy as strong as Britain’s. The raw material for China’s 20th-century capitalist takeoff came from an unlikely figure: Mao Zedong.
The Democrats Didn’t Just Fail to Defend Social Programs. They Actively Undermined Them.
In the ’80s and ’90s, the Democrats took a jackhammer to education, housing, and social welfare. This isn’t the story of a weak party unable to defend its earlier gains, but a transformed party demolishing them in service of a new neoliberal ideology.
The Supreme Court Has Always Been a Reactionary Body
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the right to abortion is the latest in a long history of reactionary rulings. We shouldn’t have any illusions: the court is an antidemocratic body that has always been about protecting elites.
Our Current Moment of Increased Labor Organizing Could Become Something Much Bigger
Trying to win progressive change without rebuilding the labor movement is a fool’s errand. That’s why the union victories at Starbucks and Amazon are so promising: the current uptick in labor militancy could become a transformational upsurge.
Gun Control Alone Won’t Suppress the US’s Death Drive
Mass shootings are only the latest horrific chapter in the US’s long history of gun violence, which stretches from prerevolutionary slave patrols to our ongoing trade in military technology. Confronting this bloodlust will require more than just gun control.
How CEPAL’s Latin American Theorists Changed Our Understanding of the “Third World”
In the mid-20th century, theorists affiliated with the Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean argued for an international division between the world’s “center” and the “periphery” — terms taken up by Latin Americans to explain and fight exploitation.
Across Latin America, the Feminist Movement Is in the Streets
On March 8, 2020, thousands across Latin America participated in an international strike to protest gender-based inequality. The movement has attempted to redefine the politics of strikes by acknowledging the value of reproductive labor.
We’re Organizing Unions at Amazon and Starbucks. We Won’t Back Down.
Amazon labor organizer Chris Smalls and Starbucks organizer Jaz Brisack talk to Jacobin about racist union busting, being invited to the White House, and how genuine human interaction is the key to workplace organizing when the boss treats workers like robots.
Lula Can Win This Year’s Presidential Election in Brazil
Lula is free and polling ahead for this year’s presidential election in Brazil. Is the far right losing its stronghold in Brazilian politics?
When Cuba Provided Crucial Military Aid to African Independence Movements
Under Fidel Castro, Cuba backed independence movements across the Third World. This support was decisive in battling South African apartheid, thwarting US covert operations, and securing self-rule across southern Africa.
Why Did Putin Decide to Invade Ukraine?
It’s impossible to say for certain what could have stopped Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But it is possible to situate the war in recent historical context and game out its geopolitical and economic consequences, including the effects of heavy sanctions.
Crypto Is Making Everything Worse
There’s lots of breathless chatter out there about how cryptocurrency will reshape the world. But the truth about crypto is simple: capitalists are using it to get rich and screw the rest of us.