Opal Lee is a writer.
As Vladimir Putin prosecutes his brutal war in Ukraine, Western governments and tech companies have apparently decided the best way to fight Putin is to join him — engaging in censorship and propagandizing reminiscent of the autocrat’s own repressive actions.
California’s San Mateo County is home to both a booming biotech industry and a large working-class immigrant community. Democratic socialist James Coleman is running for state assembly to represent workers and their families against corporate interests.
Legendary British socialist Tony Benn passed away eight years ago this week. From democratizing the economy to campaigning for peace, the causes he fought for are as relevant as ever.
A big fight is on at a small shop in Illinois, where the Iron Workers Union has filed more than 100 unfair labor practice charges against a logistics company. Workers are urging the NLRB to order the company to bargain with the union.
Andrew Cuomo, New York’s disgraced former governor, is hoping to mount a political comeback. But his posturing as a victim of “cancel culture” can’t change the fact that his comeuppance was richly deserved.
Governments around the world have partnered with tech companies to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. But their high-tech solutions haven’t saved lives — they’ve simply lined the pockets of Big Tech.
James Lindsay has a best-selling book out called Race Marxism. Reading the book, you soon learn that Lindsay has a shallow understanding not just of Marxism or racism in the US but the classical liberal tradition he seeks to defend.
Ukraine owes billions of dollars in foreign debt, most of it to international finance institutions, banks, and hedge funds. If Western governments were serious about helping Ukrainians amid a devastating war, they would push for those debts to be canceled.
Jordan Peterson’s recent musings on what he calls “postmodern neomarxism” — enriched by hours of careful research on Wikipedia — are a reminder that when it comes to intellectuals, the reactionary right isn’t sending its best.
French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has a radical program that is far more detailed than any of his competitors. But it risks being derailed by capitalist pushback.
Justin Trudeau’s government loves to tout its commitment to combating inequality. Now it’s pushing a special tax break for private jets.
Renowned Filipino scholar-activist Walden Bello is running for vice president this year on a left-wing ticket. Writing for Jacobin, Bello describes the transformative impact an openly socialist campaign can have on the Philippines.
In times of war, stocks in weapons companies have always been a safe investment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown that wars are also a big opportunity for crypto bros — another group of disaster capitalists profiting off other people’s misfortune.
Last year, farmers in India blocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s neoliberal agricultural reforms through a wave of protests. But the economic woes that fueled the unrest continue to hammer farmers, leading to sky-high suicide rates.
Vladimir Putin claims to be protecting Russian speakers in Ukraine. A Jacobin reporter at the Polish border found Russian-speaking refugees outraged at his claims — and at Russian media’s denial of horrors they saw with their own eyes.
The story of classical music is inseparable from the rise of capitalism. The new system made a musical revolution possible, but its crisis-ridden development then drove a wedge between musicians and their audience, leaving behind a frozen tradition.
Eric Adams, New York City’s new mayor, is a fascinating, eccentric character. He’s also the architect of a ruthless law-and-order crackdown on the city’s poorest, most vulnerable residents.
Opposing Vladimir Putin’s horrific war in Ukraine is no reason to target ordinary Russians or Russian culture. Anti-Russian bigotry won’t bring peace to Ukrainians.
The anti-psychiatry movement advanced a radical critique of the role that capitalism and power play in the medical profession. Its motives were noble, but it ended up closing the door to understanding, and properly treating, psychological suffering.
The boundary-crossing social theorist Leo Kofler was one of postwar West Germany’s most important Marxists. Today, he is little known outside his homeland — yet his revolutionary humanism has much to tell us about freedom today.