Who Calls the Shots
Italy’s far-right Matteo Salvini faces charges for the kidnapping of 177 migrants. But the supposedly anti-establishment Five Star Movement can block the trial — and probably will.
20395 Article(s) by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Ilhan Omar and the Jeremy Corbyn Playbook
The attacks on Ilhan Omar for antisemitism are reminiscent of those levied against Jeremy Corbyn. The charges aren’t just nonsense — they’re being used to stifle criticism of Israel.
Long Live the People’s Urbanism
Today should be a day of celebration. Amazon is leaving New York, and we just dealt a blow to urban neoliberalism.
Trump Is About to Declare a State of Emergency. What Does It Mean?
Trump’s pending declaration of a state of emergency isn’t a show of power — it’s a show of desperation.
Denver Teachers Win Steps Forward
Striking Denver teachers reached a tentative contract agreement this morning. Though they did not achieve all of their demands, Denver’s educators have wrested important gains from school privatizers — and shown once again the power of teachers withholding their labor.
Capitalism Killed Intimacy and Replaced It With PornHub
With our communities destroyed and our growing distance from each other, we humans of late capitalism are left with a deficit of intimacy and affection.
Revolutionary Romance
Why should extravagant pleasures and intense feelings be reserved for the bourgeoisie?
Victor Serge’s Heartache
In 1941, the Russian revolutionary Victor Serge fled Europe for Mexico — leaving his companion Laurette Séjourné behind. His private notebooks recount months of lovesick anguish, as he watched the war progress and waited for Laurette’s escape.
Do We Want to Get Rid of Love?
The panic felt at any threat to love is a good clue to its political significance.
The Utterly Bizarre Life of Lyndon LaRouche
American politics produces no small number of eccentrics. Lyndon LaRouche, who died yesterday, towered above them all.
An Open Letter to Steven Pinker (and Bill Gates)
Steven Pinker’s paeans to the poverty-reducing power of globalization are long on rhetoric and short on evidence. Neoliberal capitalism has actually made global poverty worse.
“Capitalism Is the Number-One Threat to Democracy Today”
From Plato to Marx, thinkers have insisted on the incompatibility between democracy and inequality. Filmmaker Astra Taylor explores that question and others in her new documentary, What Is Democracy?
Bernie Sanders Wants to Expand Social Security
Social Security is critical for massive numbers of Americans, yet many Republicans and Democrats have wanted to destroy it. Today, Bernie Sanders introduced new legislation to strengthen the program by taxing the rich.
A Media Fit for a King
Emmanuel Macron’s bid to silence his critics hasn’t stopped at repressing the gilets jaunes. He’s also pushing measures to straitjacket the whole media.
Howard Schultz’s #MeToo Problem at Starbucks
Starbucks employees have faced rampant sexual harassment for years. Why hasn’t Howard Schultz faced scrutiny for it?
El Salvador’s Backslide
With its loss of the presidency in El Salvador’s recent elections, the gains of the revolutionary project launched by the FMLN in 1980 are in serious jeopardy.
The Republic on Trial
This week nine Catalan leaders will be put on trial for sedition. With the 2017 bid for independence thwarted, the Catalan left finds itself more divided than ever.
Ilhan Omar Was Right
Ilhan Omar is being attacked for telling the truth: the influence of AIPAC on US policy toward Israel has been a disaster.
Why the Tories are Losing the Online Arms Race
From their comical outrage over dick pics to their failed social media youth arm, Britain’s Conservatives have made themselves online laughingstocks. But the reason isn’t technological — it’s political.
Mexico’s Fourth Transformation
We’re roughly three months into AMLO’s term as president of Mexico. The challenges and opportunities his administration and the Mexican people face seem equally epochal.