Falling in Love on a PATCO Picket Line
Where better to find the love of your life than on a picket line for the heartbreaking 1981 PATCO strike?
20422 Article(s) by: Frances Abele
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.
The Democrats’ Eviction Moratorium Failure Is Unforgivable
Despite a monthlong national countdown to its expiration, the White House and Congress failed to even try to extend the eviction moratorium until the last minute. Their excuses and finger-pointing won’t save them at the ballot box.
The Legacy of the Crushed 1981 PATCO Strike
Forty years ago today, 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. President Ronald Reagan would soon crush that strike — leading to devastating consequences for organized labor and all workers that we’re still dealing with today.
Fassbinder and the Red Army Faction
As his fellow West German radicals began to embrace violence in the 1970s, legendary filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder decided to celebrate another path for emancipation: class struggle in the workplace.
Anthem of the Commoners
Pulp’s 1995 hit “Common People” isn’t just a Britpop classic — it’s a more honest and brutal analysis of class than you’ll hear in the media today.
China’s Slacker Superstar
From America’s Kurt Cobain to China’s Lelush, pop stars earn their adoration not only from performing but from refusing to perform.
When Our Homes Went Miami Vice
As the Reagan era kicked into overdrive, Americans abandoned earthy and organic home decor to turn their residences into cold, sleek totems to upper-class aspiration.
Blue-Collar Jocks
In the 1970s, sports movies were funny, bitter comedies about working-class jocks taking aim at both the front office and the rich.
Labor’s Long March
The question is no longer whether the working class matters, but how it can fight back.
Why Line Cooks Like Me Aren’t Going Back
If an extra $300 a week in unemployment is enough to keep us out of kitchens, it should tell you something about our lives.
My Life as an Amazon Warehouse Worker
I started working at Amazon during the pandemic. I wanted to organize my workplace, but at the end of a long day, everyone just wanted to get home as fast as possible.
We Went to Work. The Next Day, the World Shut Down.
While millions of Americans worked remotely during the COVID pandemic, millions more either showed up to a deadly job site or were thrown into unemployment. What will the recovery be like for them?
How China Avoided a Soviet-Style Collapse
What have three decades of market reforms meant for the world’s largest working class?
Dentists of the World, Unite?
The middle class isn’t going away — and we’re not sure they’ll help us.
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist
Robert Tressell was a great writer whose class position meant he died without knowing the appreciation of his work.
The Return of the Company Town
The Second Gilded Age is starting to look more and more like the first.
The Problem Isn’t Classism, It’s Class
Under capitalism, prejudice against workers is common. But it only adds insult to a deeper, more profound injury.
Workers Didn’t Bring Us Fascism
From Berlin to the Ruhr, the organized working class resisted Hitler’s reactionary appeals.
White-Collar Media
For most of the news media, the life and struggles of the majority class just aren’t newsworthy.