Cautionary Tales
The English science-fiction writer J. G. Ballard claimed to believe in nothing. Yet his prophetic dystopias reveal a deep awareness of the brutality of class rule and imperialism.
19579 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Two Intellectuals Trapped in the Matrix
If you want a picture of the future, imagine Werner Herzog and Slavoj Žižek talking to each other — forever.
High-Tech Desert Hellscape
Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has a dream: a futuristic desert city stretching to the clouds. But down in the sand, it’s a cyberpunk dystopia.
Issue 52: Dossier
How to speak machine overlord.
Artificial Intelligence Solves Problems We Don’t Have
AI might take some administrative jobs and cheapen cultural production. What it won’t do is help us care for each other in an age of demographic change and institutionalized neglect.
Issue 52: Letters
Two takes on our rapidly aging “Aging” issue.
Issue 52: The Internet Speaks
At the next Jacobin party, we’ll all dance on Henry Kissinger’s grave.
Cyberpunk Politics
Keeping hope alive at New York Comic Con — kind of.
Can Humanity Survive AI?
With the development of artificial intelligence racing forward at warp speed, some of the richest men in the world may be deciding the fate of humanity right now.
Automation: Roll Out!
At the heart of the US-Japanese franchise Transformers is a tension between visions of robotics as liberation and as enslavement.
Automated Intimacy
This isn’t capitalism’s first loneliness epidemic. But in the 21st century, relationship simulators like Replika are here with the solution: your very own AI lover.
The Misadventures of Cybersyn
Chile’s Project Cybersyn should be remembered as a masterful branding effort — not a road to socialism.
Henry in the Gulf
On the “cynical operation” of Kissinger’s Kurdish affair.
Can AI Be Regulated? Europe Is About to Find Out
Legislation full of carve-outs is no replacement for a political movement to democratize AI.
Henry in Angola
Kissinger’s covert-ops misadventure with apartheid South Africa.
Henry in South Asia
Kissinger and the violent suppression of Bangladesh.
What a Marxist Classic Can Teach Us About AI
Almost 50 years ago, Harry Braverman’s Labor and Monopoly Capital showed us how workers can become the masters of technology rather than letting it rule over them.
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones
A journey through your iPhone’s family tree.
All I Want for Christmas Is U(AW)
When and where organized labor’s been on the move.
The UAW Puts Tesla on Notice
After securing historic deals with the Big Three automakers, the UAW is continuing to go on the offensive.