The Communist Manifesto Is Still Haunting the Powerful
Yolanda Díaz, labor minister in Spain’s first left-wing coalition since the 1930s, writes on why The Communist Manifesto is still today the sharpest critique of capitalist society.
19529 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
A Socialist Primer on Monetary Policy and Inflation
Utter the words “monetary policy” and many of us fall asleep. But that policy is crucial to how capitalists exert power. Instead of leaving it to the “experts,” socialists and the labor movement should demand a democratic say in what monetary policy looks like.
Paulo Freire’s Radical Method Was Rooted in Brazil’s Historical Inequalities
Paulo Freire, who was born one hundred years ago today, came of age in a country where half of all adults were illiterate and therefore disenfranchised. Freire’s ideas were forged in a uniquely Brazilian context.
When Regulatory Capture Turns Sinister
You might not expect a novel about regulatory capture by private utility companies to be particularly compelling. But Peter and Sarah Lazare’s Testimony, a thriller about corporate power and government corruption in a state regulatory agency, is exactly that.
Paulo Freire’s Ideas Are Just as Powerful Today as Ever
Socialist educator Paulo Freire was born one hundred years ago today in the Brazilian city of Recife. A longtime comrade of Freire, leading Marxist pedagogue Peter McLaren writes about how his life and work remain deeply relevant today.
Canada Needs to Have a Serious Talk About Trade Policy
Trade policy has received next to no attention this election, despite the post-pandemic collapse of corporate supply chains, the unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and the climate crisis. It will be impossible to confront these problems without a progressive trade policy.
UK Conservatives Are Banking on a Losing Strategy
The approach that delivered electoral success for the UK’s Tories over the last decade is starting to run out of road. But for now, the Conservatives are lucky to have an ineffectual Labour opposition that’s afraid to criticize their pandemic response.
2,000 Washington Carpenters Are on Strike
After rejecting a contract proposal from union leadership, 2,000 Washington carpenters walked off the job.
Corporations Control Canada’s Infrastructure — But the Major Parties Won’t Confront Them
Despite their election rhetoric, Canadian politicians have been acting in the interests of corporations for decades. We need to confront corporate interests — and in order to do so, we have to recognize how intertwined they are with the Canadian state.
Labor Unions Were Occupy Wall Street’s Key, Forgotten, Conflicted Ally
The labor movement played a key role in the success of Occupy Wall Street. But the alliance of unions and Occupy never succeeded in reaching its full potential.
You Know Who Else Opposed Vaccine Mandates? Hitler.
Contrary to claims about “fascist” vaccine mandates currently circulating on the Right, the Nazis actually relaxed German vaccine mandates — and hoped doing the same for people they conquered would kill them faster.
In Germany’s Election, the Center Can Hold
Next Sunday’s German election is one of the most unpredictable in decades. But even if Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats do pull off an upset victory, they’re promising continuity with Angela Merkel’s policies — not the change working people need.
We Need a Shorter Workweek to Free Us From the Tyranny of Work
Being able to relax, spend time with loved ones, have freedom from a boss, and do whatever the hell we want are essential parts of what it means to be human. Workers need more time off.
Occupy Wall Street at 10: It Was Annoying, But It Changed the World
Ten years ago, I was ready to throw in the towel on this whole politics business, writes Doug Henwood — things were too bleak. Then Occupy Wall Street kicked off. Now, thank God, we’re living in the world Occupy created.
Joe Biden Is Still Pushing to Expand Offshore Drilling
Joe Biden claims to believe the science on climate change. So why is his administration declaring that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report “does not present sufficient cause” to stop expanding oil drilling?
Norwegian Voters Want Both Climate Action and a Strong Welfare State
This week’s election in Norway was a major win for the Left — delivering a mandate to both expand the welfare state and take aggressive climate action.
The New Candyman Plays It Too Safe for Real Scares
Nia DaCosta’s Candyman reboot is a hit, but unlike the strange and haunting 1992 original, it’s a by-the-numbers horror flick.
Occupy Wall Street Made Me a Socialist
When I first heard about Occupy Wall Street, I thought it was goofy, even absurd. Maybe it was. But I joined its encampments anyway. Like countless others, it was the first time radical politics ever reached me.
What Eugene Debs and the Socialist Party Can Teach Us About Freedom
Jeff Bezos wants us to believe that allowing billionaires to wield enormous power makes us all better off. Eugene Debs and the Socialist Party, founded 120 years ago this summer, had a very different vision for society: one of empowered workers and freedom from domination.
The Feminist Vision of Friedrich Engels
In his book The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State, Friedrich Engels linked the “world-historical defeat of the female sex” to the rise of class exploitation. Engels helped lay the foundations for a Marxist understanding of women’s oppression.