Adam Curtis Talks to Jacobin About Power, Politics, and His New Film
We talk to legendary filmmaker Adam Curtis about politics, power, music, and his new six-part documentary, Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
20389 Article(s) by: Rob McIntyre
Rob McIntyre is a United Workers Union delegate at the Toll Kmart warehouse in Truganina.
Teachers Are Right. Reopening Schools Too Early Could Be a Disaster.
Everyone wants schools to reopen, but the Biden administration seems to be ignoring what mounting evidence from overseas shows: many of the newest COVID variants do in fact infect children and promote community spread.
Workers in Myanmar Are Launching General Strikes to Resist the Military Coup
Despite a vicious crackdown that has left scores of protesters dead, the worker-led movement against the military coup in Myanmar continues to rock the country. We spoke with three female garment workers who helped organize another general strike this week.
Lula Is Back — And He Can Save Brazil From Bolsonaro
After yesterday’s ruling declaring former Brazilian president Lula da Silva eligible to run in next year’s election, Brazil’s ruling class is panicking. But for Brazilian workers struggling with economic hardship and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lula’s return means there is finally some hope for change.
Danny Glover on Amazon Workers’ Struggle to Organize in Alabama
Legendary actor and longtime progressive activist Danny Glover was recently in Bessemer, Alabama, supporting workers’ efforts to organize a union there. In an interview, Glover talks about what brought him to Bessemer, his own labor history, and why the Amazon workers’ “struggle has significance for all of us.”
Low Wages Don’t Just Mean Poverty — They Mean Less Rights and Power on the Job
New research shows why inequality is even worse than it looks on paper. Thanks to weak leverage, the same workers who earn the lowest wages also suffer the worst violations of labor rights at the hands of employers.
Democracy Is Good, Actually
There are moments when even the most committed of democrats find themselves despairing of political democracy. But the system has proven again and again to be the last best hope of ordinary people in defending their pursuit of happiness against tyrants of all stripes — both public and private.
Joe Biden Should Roll Back the US’s Exploitative Guest Worker Policies
The current guest worker system prioritizes agricultural growers’ profits over immigrants’ and workers’ rights. Joe Biden should seek a different way: building an immigration system based on family reunification, community stability, and immigrant workers’ rights to decent wages, health, and housing.
How the Proletarian Women’s Movement Resisted Anti-Feminism
The early German socialist movement was a largely male affair, with widespread sexist attitudes compounding a state ban on women taking part in politics. But by the 1900s, a proletarian women’s movement had forced working-class women’s demands onto the agenda — insisting that they didn’t need fathers and husbands, or bourgeois ladies, to speak on their behalf.
Canada Should Follow Meghan and Harry’s Lead and Ditch the Monarchy for Good
Watching Meghan Markle and Prince Harry talk to Oprah about the depraved monarchy last night, I couldn’t help but wonder why I live in a country where the Queen is the head of state. Canada needs to dump the British monarchy and never look back.
50 Years Ago Today, Activists Burglarized the FBI and Exposed Its Undemocratic Abuses
Fifty years ago today, a group of New Left activists executed a daring burglary of an FBI field office in Pennsylvania, exposing the bureau’s COINTELPRO operations against the Civil Rights Movement, anti-war activists, and socialists. We should remember these activists today as heroes.
The Senate Just Took a Baby Step Toward the Feminist Goal of a Universal Child Benefit
On International Women’s Day, the good news is that the new COVID-19 relief bill will include a kind-of, sort-of universal child benefit — a policy that feminists have long called for. But the overly complicated, burdensome way the policy is implemented means that on this issue, the Left still has its work cut out for it.
The Fight for Free Time Is a Feminist Issue
Thousands of home care workers in New York are forced to work twenty-four-hour shifts while being paid for only half the time. That’s outrageous — and on International Women’s Day, we should heed their call in taking up the struggle for control over our time.
The Sports World Is Run by Crooks. It’s Time To Change the Rules of the Game.
The bodies that govern international sport are riddled with corruption and in need of drastic change. We need an alternative socialist vision for how sports should be run that gives priority to social well-being and international cooperation over nationalism and private profit.
Lelio Basso and the Missed Opportunities of Italian Socialism
Lelio Basso was a major figure of the postwar Italian left who urged its parties to follow through on their revolutionary programs and avoid subordinating themselves to the ruling Christian Democrats. Italy’s Socialists and Communists should have heeded his advice.
When Paris Was Red
In the twentieth century, socialists and communists used municipal power in Paris to build some of Europe’s most ambitious social housing projects — housing that was not only beautiful but made for and by the city’s working class.
Amazon’s Anti-Union Activities Should All Be Illegal
In the ongoing union drive in Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon is playing a massive role in influencing the outcome of the election. This should be a crime — bosses should be legally prohibited from interfering with their workers’ union organizing.
My Year of Sedentary Existence
The past year has shattered our normal existence, forcing us to confront a deadly pandemic while trying to maintain some semblance of sanity.
Alexei Navalny’s Movement Reflects the Weakness of Russian Democracy
Faced with protests for opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s release, the Russian left is torn over whether to join a movement which raises no general social demands. Navalny’s personalized clash with Putin highlights the present hollowness of Russian democracy.
The Forgotten 1964 NBA All-Star Game Labor Action Should Still Inspire Us
Today, the NBA will host an All-Star Game over the objections of many of its players. But back in 1964, stars were willing to go on strike and not play the exhibition, despite threats from ownership, to win retirement pensions and basic protections. It’s a classic reminder that no matter who you are, collective action works.