Frances Abele CM is Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy Emerita at Carleton University. She is a research fellow at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation and the Broadbent Institute. Much of her work focuses on indigenous-Canada relations.
Even in the wake of news that Roe v. Wade may be overturned, the Democratic leadership is backing right-wing Texas representative Henry Cuellar against his primary opponent, Jessica Cisneros, a Berniecrat who favors abortion rights.
Last week’s election performance by the British Labour Party was deeply underwhelming. Despite enjoying every advantage, Keir Starmer has failed to convert a popular backlash against Boris Johnson’s government into support for his own plodding leadership.
Early Pentecostal preachers railed against elites and uplifted the oppressed — a far cry from their recent efforts to elect right-wing populists like Donald Trump. There are deep contradictions at the heart of Pentecostalism, and they aren’t resolved yet.
Fearing the Left will sweep up the youth vote, conservatives have long opposed lowering the voting age — the worst possible rationale for refusing to expand the franchise.
The Supreme Court’s leaked ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is an antidemocratic abomination. The Democrats’ response so far has been a bad joke.
In Texas, National Guard members faced painful cuts and absurd assignments by Republican governor Greg Abbott. So they did what many exploited workers before them have done: they organized a union.
When Matt Bruenig realized a Democratic childcare proposal had major flaws, he did what seemed sensible: he publicly pointed out the bill’s flaws. Doing so set in motion a chain of events that reveals how Democrats turn bad ideas into bad policies.
Pfizer is projected to rake in more than $50 billion from its COVID medicines this year. It’s a symbol of the drastic inequality created by a for-profit approach to global health.
In London’s poorest borough, I ran as an open socialist against the Labour Party to become mayor — and I won. Despite Labour’s conservative turn, the Left can win like I did: by going on the offensive.
Scott Morrison is widely disliked, and his conservative government is divided, incompetent, and mired in corruption. Despite this, the Labor opposition’s platform is one of the most timid and conservative in memory.
Alberta’s premier, free-market champion Jason Kenney, is wreaking havoc on the province’s postsecondary education system — not just through cuts and privatizations but through a brutal reshaping of public education itself.
France’s Greens, Socialists, and Communists have joined a coalition supporting Jean-Luc Mélenchon for prime minister. He has proven that a transformative program is the best way to inspire millions — and to deny Emmanuel Macron a majority in parliament.
My husband, Frank Cunningham, wanted nothing more than to live, but on his own terms. So when, at 81, his cancer made life unbearable, Frank thankfully had the choice to die peacefully. We all deserve that choice.
The Supreme Court’s impending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is the product of plutocratic judges that serve right-wing interests over the wishes of the majority. There’s no clearer sign that we should radically curb the power of the Supreme Court.
The Bank of England’s interest rate hike is an attempt to force the economy into a recession, increase unemployment, and lower wages even further. In other words, workers will be forced to pay even more for the cost of living crisis.
Before the anti-labor onslaught of the 1980s, union recognition in Canada was straightforward and democratic — all it took was a workplace majority to sign authorization cards. Now, decades later, workers in BC have won back this fundamental right.
Italy’s Democratic Party refuses to break with the neoliberal status quo. This political conservatism will only further open the door to the populist right, which has massively increased its support in recent years.
Nationwide, “safe haven” laws allow mothers to abandon newborn children and relinquish responsibility for parenting them. The laws sound like something no one could oppose — but they’ve been a key strategy in the Right’s war on women’s right to abortion.
The only way to stop climate change is to build a mass, working-class movement whose demands both resonate with average people and take on the billionaires who are profiteering from the climate crisis.
At the turn of the 20th century, Walter Crane’s groundbreaking designs captured the spirit of a rising socialist movement. More than a romantic dreamer, he saw how the triumph of labor could allow humanity’s artistic talents to flourish.