Socialists Invented Summer Vacation
Summer at work is unbearable when we can’t look forward to some time off. In 1930s France, the labor movement made the fight for vacation a top priority — and forced bosses to pay for our time at the beach.
247 Articles by: David Broder
David Broder is Jacobin’s Europe editor and a historian of French and Italian communism.
We Need to Win Our People Back
French workers’ top electoral choice isn’t Marine Le Pen, but abstention. To mobilize their support, the Left needs to look beyond the workplace alone — and answer a deeper mood of alienation.
The Five Star Movement Is Imploding
The Five Star Movement emerged promising to liberate Italians from a corrupt political establishment. But its hollow claim to stand outside the left-right divide has made it into a mere stooge for Matteo Salvini.
The Gilets Noirs Are in the Building
Paris’s tourist economy relies on a hidden army of undocumented migrants. But these workers are no longer happy to remain in the shadows — and their protests for regular status are drawing inspiration from the gilets jaunes.
Emmanuel Macron Wants to Set Space on Fire
The 1960s space race prompted international treaties insisting that space travel should only be used for peaceful purposes. Today, Emmanuel Macron’s plans to put military hardware in space point to a dangerous new arms race.
Storming the World’s Bastilles
On Bastille Day 1889, militants from around the world met in Paris to declare an international union of socialist parties. The Second International promised to spread the spirit of the revolution across borders, only itself to fall victim to nationalist passions.
We Won’t Load Your Ships of Death
Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen relies on lucrative weapons deals with the West. But the arms shipments can’t happen if dockers refuse to load the ships — and in France and Italy, they’ve already taken strike action to stop the Saudi war machine.
Syriza’s Failure Has Hurt Us All
Setbacks for Syriza have prompted Alexis Tsipras to call an early general election. Yet as a onetime left-wing government reaches the end of the road, the bases for rebuilding the fight against austerity look weaker than ever.
Trump Can’t Stop Jeremy Corbyn
Days after Trump said Boris Johnson should be next prime minister, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised the US wouldn’t allow Jeremy Corbyn come to power. They can’t stop him.
“We Have Nothing to Lose but Our Debts”
Four years after he became a slavish enforcer of EU dogmas, Greek leader Alexis Tsipras is finally set to lose office. But for former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, next month’s snap elections are a chance to take the fight against austerity back into parliament.
A British Suffragette in America
British suffragette and socialist Sylvia Pankhurst didn’t just want to talk to “society ladies” about the right to vote. She wanted the women’s movement to be part of a broader emancipatory project.
“Neither Left nor Right” Helps the Far Right
From social democracy to Christian democracy, the old mass parties are dying. And it’s the far right that’s benefiting.
A Marxist in the European Parliament
Last week’s elections produced grim results for the Left across most of the continent. But in Belgium, the Workers’ Party made a historic breakthrough.
Salvini Isn’t About to Take Over Europe
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hard-right interior minister, has no intention of taking his country out of the eurozone. And his plans to change the EU from within are surprisingly feeble.
Sowing the Seeds of Bolsonaro
Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was lifted to power by the mass mobilization of the Brazilian middle classes. But it wouldn’t have been possible without years of failed austerity policies.
A Plan B for Our Planet
Neoliberal president Macron’s fuel tax hike has sparked six months of protests. But for France Insoumise’s Danièle Obono, the gilets jaunes and climate marchers aren’t on opposing sides: they both want the rich to pay for climate chaos.
Today, We Celebrate the Carnation Revolution
On April 25, 1974, a mutiny in the Portuguese army put an end to five decades of dictatorship. The revolution that followed showed how working people can take a modern economy into their own hands.
France’s Repressed Fascist Past
A self-serving national myth portrays France as immune to fascism. Yet the Vichy regime had deep roots in the country’s prewar history.
Painting Budapest Red
In March 1919, Hungary saw the creation of a short-lived revolutionary state. We look at the significance of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and its attempted transformation of art and culture.
Sending in the Troops
Emmanuel Macron’s decision to use the army to repress the Yellow Vests represents a desperate bid to project a tough-guy image.