Property, Race, Colonialism, and Capitalism
In colonial regimes, dominant conceptions of private property developed alongside racial hierarchies.
19358 Articles by: James Bloodworth
James Bloodworth is a writer and journalist from London.
The Fight to Save North America’s Temperate Rainforests
An unbroken blanket of coniferous trees occupies the North American coast from California to the Alaskan islands. A wonder of the natural world, these temperate rainforests are essential to the continent’s health — and they must be protected.
The World’s Largest Job Guarantee Is in Jeopardy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot discontinue India’s popular rural job guarantee, the country’s most significant antipoverty program. He’s taken to underfunding and “appifying” it instead.
“Woke” Capital Won’t Decarbonize the Economy
Despite both right-wing hysterics about “woke capital” and the optimistic claims of Wall Street, ESG has done very little to steer investment in more socially responsible directions. Aggressive state action is needed to rapidly green the economy.
France’s Police Unions Are Mobilizing to Defend Their Impunity
The police killing of a 17-year-old in a Paris suburb has sparked a revolt against state violence across France. But powerful police unions have closed ranks behind the killer, in a backlash that shows French cops’ refusal to accept even basic accountability.
Anthony Albanese’s Response to the Economic Crisis Is a Public Relations Strategy
It’s the worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, and all the Australian Labor Party wants to offer are measures that are so inadequate, they’re tantamount to smoke and mirrors. That’s why Labor is rapidly losing ground to the Left.
Saudi Arabia’s PGA Golf Merger Is Proof Its Monarchy Is Untouchable
It’s hard to imagine any other government getting away with the crimes that Saudi Arabia’s monarchy has. And yet the Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s merger with the PGA Tour shows the Gulf nation continues to be treated as anything but a pariah in the United States.
Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City Will Please His Fans and Infuriate His Skeptics
Asteroid City dials up the “Wes Anderson” to 11, leaving an emotional void in its wake.
France’s Left Has Finally Woken Up to Racist Police Violence
France’s left has often failed to speak up for marginalized minorities. But after the backlash over the police murder of 17-year-old Nahel, left-wing parties have taken a clear stance, refusing to condemn rioters and insisting their anger is justified.
Biden Is Wrong. The Supreme Court Is Already “Politicized.”
President Biden said he won’t expand the Supreme Court because doing so would “politicize” the court in an unhealthy way. But it’s a political institution by its nature — and a disturbingly undemocratic one.
No, We’re Not All to Blame for Poverty
For centuries, US capitalism has let a minority profit while leaving millions of others destitute. The moralistic idea that we’re all partly to blame ignores the systemic causes of poverty and offers no hope of building solidarity.
Remembering Socialist Gus Newport, Berkeley’s “Mayor of the World”
Eugene “Gus” Newport, Berkeley’s socialist mayor from 1979 to 1986, used local office to support and materially aid left-wing revolutionaries from South Africa to Central America and the Caribbean. Newport proved that city hall could have a global reach.
Starbucks Baristas Are Accusing the Company of Homophobic Worker Suppression
This Pride Month, amid a wave of protests targeting LGBTQ-friendly brands, Starbucks workers say they’ve been asked to take down Pride decorations. Workers say it’s part of a larger trend of undermining and demoralizing baristas, who are unionizing nationwide.
Actors Want to Be Paid for Auditions — and Their Contract Already Guarantees It
Under the banner of “Auditions Are Work,” a group of SAG-AFTRA members are organizing to enforce a little-known provision of their contract that guarantees pay for auditions. With many actors spending hours each week auditioning, there’s a lot to gain.
A New Supreme Court Case Could Make It Even Harder to Tax the Superrich
The Supreme Court has just agreed to hear a case designed to preemptively block a wealth tax — another potentially lucrative gift for the conservative justices’ billionaire benefactors.
Actually, Voter Shaming Doesn’t Work
Voter shaming has never been an effective tactic, but the fact that it’s being discussed as one by the likes of Pod Save America’s hosts speaks to the increasingly post-democratic sentiments that have become common among elite liberals.
The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling Is Not the End of Race-Conscious Admissions
Rather than ending affirmative action, as many headlines have stated, yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling has created new rules about how race can be considered in university admissions — and they might be more in line with left-wing rationales for affirmative action.
The Triumph of Greece’s Authoritarian Right Is the Future the European Union Wants
Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis is cut from the same cloth as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, attacking press freedom and brutalizing refugees. The EU’s leading actors have backed Mitsotakis to the hilt, and his political dominance was forged in Berlin and Brussels.
Elemental Takes Pixar’s Propaganda to a Whole New Level
The once great animation studio continues its fall with Elemental, another clumsy Pixar parable about the joy of finding a career.
Jack Butler Yeats Was a Political Radical
Jack Butler Yeats, the most important 20th-century Irish painter, is often presented in apolitical terms of pictorial technique. Yet his work was deeply colored by Ireland’s independence struggle — and the yearnings for human dignity that inspired it.