Looking Leftward at the South African Elections
Amid mass unemployment and soaring inequality, voters in today’s South African election are getting sick of the ANC’s broken promises. But there’s no real alternative for them in sight.
19673 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Delete Your App
Uber and Lyft drivers are on strike today. They’re challenging companies that refuse to even recognize them as workers.
The Scale of the Problem
We may be witnessing the first stirrings of a climate movement that’s big enough to tackle the coming disaster — and radical enough to name the system responsible for it.
A Green New Deal Needs to Fight US Militarism
We can’t heal the climate if the US war machine keeps raining destruction, absorbing resources, and gobbling up fossil fuels all around the world. Here’s how to stop it.
God and Mammon at Loyola
At Loyola University, graduate workers aren’t just fighting for better conditions. They’re challenging the neoliberalization of one of Chicago’s leading Catholic institutions.
The Consequences of Forgetting
We live in a country built off slavery and anti-black racism. The struggle for reparations is about remembering that, and fighting for a better future for all working people.
Pub Workers of the World, Unite
Workers at Wetherspoons, the British pub chain, were tired of low wages and grueling conditions. So they formed a union, went on strike — and won.
Sanctions Are Murder
As media and political figures cheer on regime change for the sake of the Venezuelan people, they say nothing about the sanctions that are killing ordinary Venezuelans.
Tech Workers Are Workers, Too
Tech workers in China and the US recently united in the largest display of tech worker solidarity we’ve ever seen. It’s exactly what we need to prevent a global race to the bottom in tech.
Uber Is a Scam
A glance at the company’s recently released prospectus reveals the truth about Uber: it’s a scam.
Knock It Down
Rachel Lears’ electric new documentary about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three fellow working-class political insurgents is now in theaters. It tells the story of four ordinary people confronting a corrupt Democratic establishment.
Game of Thrones’ Real Heroes Are the Peasants
What would be a good Game of Thrones ending? How about unleashing the latent Jacobin power of the “smallfolk” on all these would-be kings and queens.
Africa’s Road to Democracy
Democracy in Africa won’t come from political elites. It will come from below, in the streets and through popular movements.
Why New York’s Tenement Museum Workers Decided to Unionize
The Tenement Museum tells stories of life and labor on New York’s Lower East Side. But it’s not just garment workers from a century ago who needed unions — the museum workers themselves recently decided they did, too.
Reading Karl Marx in Beijing
100 years ago today, Chinese students launched the May Fourth Movement. While Chinese officials invoke the movement to reinforce the status quo, a new generation is rediscovering its insurgent roots.
Art for the 99 Percent
Rich kids are way more likely to grow up to be artists. And that’s because capitalism doesn’t give us all the freedom to reach our creative potentials.
A Feminist Movement for Us All
Spain’s right has declared feminism Enemy Number 1. To defeat the backlash, feminism can’t just be one side in a culture war. It must be about providing everyone with the material basis for autonomy over their own lives.
Stick With Bernie
Forget all the other Democratic candidates: the primary will come down to Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden. If we want to beat Trump, we should stick with Bernie.
“Revolutionary Cycles Are Contagious”
AMLO’s party MORENA is launching a mass popular education project. The aim: to empower every working person with the tools to transform Mexico from the bottom up.
Class Rules Everything Around Me
The socialist emphasis on the centrality of class isn’t about ignoring racial inequalities, but about crafting a politics capable of ending them.