Five Signs That Worker Power Is on the Rise
We may come to see this year’s Labor Day as the first of a new era of progress for the labor struggle. Here are five reasons to be hopeful about the state of the workers’ movement.
20420 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.
The Welfare State and Social Wealth Funds
The social dividend provided by a social wealth fund is not about unemployment or welfare at all. It is a socialist answer to the question of what to do about capital’s share of the national income.
The IDF Can’t Wait to Go to War
Israel wants you to believe “Iranian-backed forces” are the threat to peace in the region. That’s pure propaganda — it’s Israeli aggression that we should really be worried about.
Andrew Yang Is Ross Perot for Millennials
Andrew Yang likes to present himself as a serious policy thinker. But he’s just the latest corporate salesman pitching a quack remedy to suffering people.
Are We Headed for a Recession?
Fears of an approaching recession are overblown. But the economy is slowing — and it’s the poor who will suffer most.
Grenada’s Revolution Should Never Be Forgotten
Forty years ago, a socialist revolution in the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada threatened to upturn the world economic order.
A Labor Day History of Philadelphia, Home of America’s First General Strike
Philadelphia. Yes, we’ve booed Santa Claus. But we’ve also had an incredibly rich history of labor militancy.
It’s a Good Sign That the Financial Times Is Worried About Jeremy Corbyn
Under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party plans to distribute not just wealth, but power, to working people. No wonder the bosses’ press is concerned.
Under Capitalism, Changing Jobs Sucks
They say that under capitalism, the only thing worse than being exploited by a boss is not being exploited by a boss. But I recently realized that reeducating and retooling yourself to be exploited by a new boss in a new industry is terrible, too — not to mention risky and expensive.
Americans Are Starting to Love Unions Again
Labor union approval is now higher than at nearly any point in the last 50 years. The reasons: shit pay, teacher strikes, and Bernie Sanders.
Ask Labor Jane: “I Quit My Job to Dedicate Myself to Organizing. What Now?”
Introducing our new organizing advice column, with labor organizer and strategist Jane McAlevey.
East Germans Still Feel Powerless
Almost thirty years since reunification, the Alternative für Deutschland is making its strongest gains in the former East. But the far right’s growth doesn’t just owe to Eastern xenophobia — it owes to millions of people’s sense of being mere second-class citizens.
US Sanctions Are Designed to Kill
US sanctions are killing ordinary Iranians by the thousands. Through its control over the world banking system, America’s sanctioning power flouts international human rights law and poses a threat to the world.
Why We Should Fight for the Veterans Health Administration
Republicans and centrist Democrats love to pour money into more and more wars. But when it comes to providing public health care for the soldiers they put in harm’s way, they try to privatize and starve vets’ programs. We have to stop them.
Macri’s Yellow Balloons
Argentina’s recent primary elections demonstrated that, after Mauricio Macri’s failed promises, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is poised for a comeback.
Manners — Revolutionary and Bourgeois
It’s easy to dismiss manners as simply markers of social hierarchy. But manners can perform an egalitarian, progressive function — and they’re essential to any democratic organization.
Joe Biden Wants to Take Away Your Music
Joe Biden hasn’t changed much over the years. So it’s safe to assume that the version of him that you see in a recently surfaced video threatening to jail rave promoters and destroy our right to culture is the version of him we would get in a Biden White House.
A Chance to Defend Gig Workers’ Rights in California
A new bill in California would end the legal loophole that allows Uber and Lyft to pay drivers incredibly low wages and avoid paying benefits. It’s no surprise that the companies are mobilizing against the law: their business model is based on abusing their drivers.
From Harvard to East Berlin
In 1952 the Harvard grad Victor Grossman defected to East Germany, hoping to help build socialism on the ruins of Nazism. Thirty years after that state collapsed, he insists that we should see it as a land of contradictions, not just a totalitarian monolith.
Adjunct Faculty in an Adjunct Country
The precarious status of adjunct faculty at the University of Puerto Rico is a microcosm for the broader issues faced by the island.