The New American Exceptionalism
Effective states can enforce discipline on elites. The United States is not one of them.
20433 Article(s) by: Enver Motala
Enver Motala is an associate of the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT) at the University of Johannesburg and of the Centre for Integrated Post-School Education and Training at the Nelson Mandela University.
Blue Order
In an increasingly unstable country, what if a “deep police state” threatens to undermine our electoral gains?
How Abraham Lincoln Fought the Supreme Court
It is not enough to question the decisions, the justices, or even the structure of the current court — we need to challenge, as Abraham Lincoln did, the foundation of its power to determine the law.
Socialists Should Be Republicans
The first generation of the GOP tried — and failed — to build a modern republic. Socialists today won’t get very far unless we finish their work.
Celebrating Ten Years of Jacobin
And our decades to come.
America’s Railroad to Nowhere
We know the US rail network is no match for trains in France or Japan. But Barack Obama’s plan for high-speed rail couldn’t even match that of Morocco or Uzbekistan.
Ending Federalism as We Know It
A new book shows how the fragmented American state arrests democracy. What we need is nothing short of a reconstruction.
A Very British Dystopia
A Very British Coup embraced the intrigues of class war, but its sequel falls prey to the mundanities of culture war.
Mapping the Decline
How the neoliberal project’s very own fifty-state strategy left poverty and low wages in its wake.
On Being a Mother in America
Within ten days of giving birth, a quarter of us are forced to return to work. If liberals truly want to support parents’ choices, they need to back the subsidies and employment legislation that are vital to child-rearing.
Your Quarterly Horoscope
Real left strategy isn’t found in socialist magazines. It’s found in the stars.
America the Laggard
By virtually any measure, people in the United States are worse off than those in other rich countries. There’s no disputing the impact of our weak entitlements and paltry labor protections.
The Great Divergence
It used to be better to be a low-wage worker in the United States than in France. That hasn’t been the case for a long while.
Don’t Blame Polarization
A discussion on American partisanship, political dysfunction, and why it’s not our passions that are the problem — it’s the Constitution itself.
It’s Going to Take More Than Antitrust Law to Rein in Big Tech
The federal government’s landmark lawsuit against Google has been hailed as a bold step to rein in Big Tech. But we’ll need much more than US antitrust law to match the economic power of a global juggernaut like Google.
Punk Versus Reagan
A new book on American punk paints the movement as the last gasp of left-wing cultural resistance in the 1980s.
When the Red Flag Flew Over Iran
In 1920, a Soviet Socialist Republic was established in Iran’s Gilan province. A century later, the short-lived state stands as a powerful reminder of the long-running struggles in the Middle East to defeat both foreign imperialism and domestic oppressors.
How Foodsters United Is Organizing Canada’s Gig Economy
After unionizing gig economy workers, Ontario’s courier union Foodsters United found themselves without an employer when Foodora filed for bankruptcy. Now they’re exploring how worker cooperatives could use the efficiency of platform structures to bypass corporate exploitation.
Trump’s Parting Gift to Screw Over Workers
Donald Trump’s Labor Department just issued a rule freezing farmworkers’ wages, even as his administration predicts a big increase in agribusiness profits. It’s a parting reminder that, for all its populist bluster, the Trump administration has been an enemy of working people.
Jack Henry, a Communist Leader in Australia’s “Deep North”
Queensland is often viewed as a hopelessly conservative state. But the story of Jack Henry, the Australian communist who organized the Far North, suggests that this stereotype is far from the truth.