Evo Morales Was the Americas’ Greatest President
On the day of Bolivia’s presidential election, we look at the legacy of Evo Morales — who won power in South America’s poorest country, tripled its GDP, and lifted millions out of extreme poverty.
19608 Articles by: Elizabeth Mahony
The Organizers of the Bolivian Coup Will Never Accept Free Elections
Almost a year since the military coup against Evo Morales, today Bolivians will finally get to vote on a new president. But the forces that overthrew Morales have done everything they can to stop his Movement Toward Socialism to return to power through a free and fair election.
Scott Morrison’s “Gas-Fired Recovery” Is Doubling Down on Fossil Fuels in Australia
The Liberal Party’s plan for a “gas-fired recovery” is not just the product of climate change denialism. It’s a class-conscious scheme to guarantee the profitability and continued hegemony of mining and fossil fuel capital long into Australia’s future.
In Canada, Jason Kenney Is Launching an Assault on Alberta’s Working Class
Alberta’s UCP government, led by premier Jason Kenney, is kowtowing to the province’s bosses in every conceivable way. The passage of Bill 32 demonstrates their devotion to Alberta’s business class and their contempt for working people.
Farewell Quino, Creator of Mafalda
Mafalda is one of the most loved comic strips of all time. Drawn by the Argentine cartoonist Quino, its central character is a six-year-old girl who, with a mix of irony and naivete, interrogated the image of modernity being sold to the Latin American middle classes in the 1960s, and derided the authority of both the family and the state.
Antebellum Is as Bad as Everyone Thinks
Get Out was a triumph. Antebellum tries to follow in its footsteps, but it completely fails at making a horror movie out of the experience of racism in America.
Telling the Tale of England’s North Country Blues
England’s North-South divide lies at the heart of Britain’s recent political disputes, from Brexit to the fate of the Labour Party. There’s a long and fascinating history behind that regional chasm, from the Norman conquest to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Margaret Thatcher.
Karl Kautsky Was Once a Revolutionary
Lenin’s famous denunciation of Karl Kautsky as a “renegade” has long discouraged Marxists from actually engaging with the German-Austrian socialist’s writings. But if the Bolshevik leader sharply criticized Kautsky’s retreats, this was also because of his great admiration for his earlier work — a revolutionary Marxism that lay decisive stress on the battle for democracy.
The San Francisco Ruling Class Is United in Their Hatred of the City’s Socialists
A San Francisco PAC has been given more than $3 million in donations to oppose left candidates and ballot measures in the upcoming election. Socialist candidates like Dean Preston are redrawing the lines of city politics around class — and the ruling class isn’t happy about it.
What South Korea’s Candlelight Revolution Tells Us About Defeating a Right-Wing Autocrat
South Korea’s 2016–17 Candlelight Revolution shows that to defend democratic rights, you have to be ready to step outside the bounds of liberal proceduralism. We should take the same lesson in the US: the best way to ensure that Donald Trump will respect the results of the November election is to mobilize in the streets and demand it.
Jeremy Corbyn: “Undercover Police Can’t Be Above the Law”
Britain’s Tory government is passing legislation to shield undercover agents from prosecution even for violent crimes. Jeremy Corbyn explains why Labour should be standing up against this attack on civil liberties — and not just abstaining.
The US Should Indict American War Criminals, Not Julian Assange
The US is attempting to imprison one of its critics, Julian Assange, by claiming a global right to prosecute any journalist in the world. If that prosecution succeeds, it would be a severe blow not just to press freedom, but to our very right to oppose imperialism and empire.
Mass Unemployment Is a Crisis — But We’re Not Treating It as One
The expiration of stimulus benefits has thrown millions into poverty, even as the unemployment crisis continues to hammer workers. There’s a deep sickness at the heart of the American economy.
Tough on Anti-Vaxx Nonsense, Tough on the Causes of Anti-Vaxx Nonsense
Perhaps months away from the first COVID-19 vaccines, their effectiveness may be threatened by growing anti-vaccination sentiment in the Global North. The Left should brook no vaccine skepticism in its ranks, but we should also work to prevent the conditions that give rise to such irrationality in the first place.
Amy Coney Barrett’s Climate Denialism Should Disqualify Her
Amy Coney Barrett told senators that she is impartial and that her views on climate science are irrelevant. But she showed a dangerous bias against environmental action that would make the climate crisis far worse.
“Stopping Things Getting Worse Isn’t Enough”
This Saturday, Mattea Meyer and Cédric Wermuth are set to become the new copresidents of Switzerland’s Social Democratic Party. They told Jacobin why they think they can pull their party to the left — and stand up for those who aren’t benefiting from their country’s great wealth.
Who Owns the Constitution?
In their early-twentieth-century heyday, American socialists advanced a distinctive vision of constitutional interpretation that centered popular mass politics — not judges and lawyers. As we face our own crisis of constitutionalism today, we should look back to that vision.
A General Strike to Stop Trump? Some Unions Are Saying It’s Time.
The Rochester, New York labor council recently resolved to “prepare for and enact a general strike of all working people” if Trump tries to steal the election. The rest of the labor movement needs to pay attention — labor can help stop an authoritarian power grab if unions start making plans right now.
The Struggle for Democracy in America Has Been One Unending Battle
Republican senator Mike Lee ignited a controversy last week when he insisted that it’s a good thing the US isn’t a democracy. His comments were appalling — but they remind us that what democracy we do have in the US is thanks to the countless bottom-up struggles against elites like him since the country’s founding.
A Prison Guard Union Is Trying to Unseat a California Criminal Justice Reformer
In an attempt to send a message to any legislators considering challenging the mass incarceration status quo, law enforcement unions in California have spent nearly $1 million to unseat Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a state assembly member and Bernie Sanders–backed criminal justice reformer.