Mark Engler is a writer based in Philadelphia, an editorial board member at Dissent, and the coauthor of This Is an Uprising.
In the 1960s, radical thinker André Gorz developed a novel concept that went beyond the tired reform versus revolution debate. With non-reformist reforms, popular movements can win immediate gains that shift power away from elites — and clear the way for more radical transformations.
If workers refuse to work, the bosses can’t produce anything. If soldiers refuse to fight, the generals can’t wage wars. That’s the power of a strike.
From fare strikes to sick outs, movements are deploying a variety of creative tactics to disrupt business as usual.