The Left Needs to Have More Fun
Nobody wants to join a boring movement. Socialists can’t change the world if we aren’t providing people with a good time.
134 Article(s) by: Eric Blanc
Eric Blanc is an assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. He blogs at the Substack Labor Politics and is the author of We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big.
Zohran Can Do Much More to Boost Organizing
Socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has accomplished much in just a few months. But one major thing is missing from his tenure thus far: activating mass participation of working-class New Yorkers in the fight for his ambitious agenda.
A Plan to Stop ICE From Stealing the Midterms
A campaign to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement from polling places would provide a concrete, winnable demand that unions, student organizations, and immigrant and democracy defense groups could organize around today, months before the election.
Sectarianism Has Never Ended a War
Amid the horrors of war, it’s always tempting for some on the Left to stake out more and more radical sloganeering. This was a dead end during the Vietnam War — mass action was not.
Why Is There No Antiwar Movement in the US?
We don’t have an effective, mass antiwar movement to push back against Donald Trump’s war on Iran. We need one immediately.
Cut the Military Budget in Half
It’s not enough just to oppose this war on Iran. We should demand major cuts to the US military budget, starting with cutting it in half.
Your Individual Boycotts Aren’t Helping
Boycotts against corporations can be powerful tools. But they have to be waged as part of larger collective struggles with real plans to win — not simply as acts for frustrated individuals to take on their own.
The Blueprint for a Nationwide Immigrant Strike
The 2006 “Day Without an Immigrant” mobilized millions and killed a draconian anti-immigrant bill. With ICE waging war on immigrant communities, the playbook for a mass strike already exists — we just have to study it.
How to Organize a Real General Strike in the US
General strikes are the most powerful tool in the working class’s arsenal. Recent mass actions in Minnesota against ICE terror were strong steps toward such a strike, but much more organizing is needed. Here’s how we can do it.
Minneapolis Is Going on Offense Against ICE
We spoke to a Minneapolis organizer about the community-organizing infrastructure there in response to ICE, why targeting corporations that profit from ICE is working, and how other cities could do the same in their fight against ICE terror.
The Socialist Tradition Shaped Martin Luther King
Accounts of the life of Martin Luther King Jr often present him as a singularly great individual. Yet MLK was profoundly shaped by a vibrant ecosystem of socialists and labor radicals, from Myles Horton and Rosa Parks to Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levison.
Francesca Hong Is a Socialist Running for Wisconsin Governor
In Wisconsin, state assembly member and democratic socialist Francesca Hong has announced she is running for governor. We spoke to her about the campaign.
When the Sewer Socialists Struggled for Racial Equality
Critics of the American sewer socialists often point to racist statements made by their leading light, Wisconsin’s Victor Berger. A close examination of his writings shows that those views changed dramatically over time.
The Resistance Moves Left
How the socialist left and the anti-Trump Resistance are slowly but surely learning to work together.
Politics Is Something We Do
The hard part is over. The harder part is about to start.
Critique Is Easy. What’s Your Plan for Power?
The way to help Zohran Mamdani overcome establishment and billionaire opposition to his agenda has to involve organizing bigger and deeper, rather than simply criticizing him harder.
Democrats Caved in the Shutdown Fight. Unions Let Them.
The government shutdown was a test showing where progressive forces are strong and where they’re weak. The results are in after last night’s Democratic capitulation to the GOP: most top union leaders are failing to meet the moment.
Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Points the Way Forward
A democratic socialist wasn’t supposed to be able to win a major office like New York City mayor over the objections of billionaires. Yet Zohran Mamdani and the movement behind him built a campaign far stronger than the oligarchs and their unlimited money.
After No Kings, It’s Time to Escalate
After the massive No Kings protests, we need bigger, more disruptive nonviolent campaigns that can go viral and peel away Donald Trump’s pillars of support.
Ultraleftism Can’t Free Palestine
Two years into Israel’s genocide, the US movement in solidarity with Palestinians is far weaker than it should be. To cut off American arms to Israel, we need to build a powerful movement oriented to ordinary Americans beyond activist circles.