How Sean McElwee’s “Normie-Progressive Theory of Change” Doomed Samelys López
The story of how one extremely wrong Data for Progress poll kneecapped a socialist congressional candidate in the Bronx.
19648 Articles by: Tanner Howard
Tanner Howard is a freelance journalist and In These Times editorial intern. They’re also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Happy Birthday, Jacobin! Here’s to Ten More Years.
Back when Jacobin was founded this month in 2010, there was hardly any socialist media in the United States. Today, we’re a small part of a growing movement that can still change the world.
Democratic Rights Aren’t Willingly Given — They Have to Be Fought For
New South Wales is allowing stadiums to seat up to 10,000 fans right now, but the Liberal state government has used COVID-19 as a pretext to ban all public protests. Vinil Kumar, who faced the NSW Supreme Court on this issue, spoke with Jacobin about the battle to protect our democratic rights amid lockdown.
Let’s Stop Talking About the “Overton Window”
Socialists should be making well-thought-out proposals for a better future and building the class power to bring that program into reality. The idea that our purpose is simply “shifting the Overton window” by spouting the most radical-sounding slogans is an unhelpful distraction.
The 1776 Unites Project Is an Exercise in Empty Capitalist Boosterism
Last week, Donald Trump denounced the “radical” ideas brainwashing students to hate America. Right on time, the 1776 Unites project released education materials they claim are a corrective. Praised by education secretary Betsy DeVos as “wonderful,” the materials aren’t a serious look at American history — they’re empty boosterism for American free markets.
How We Can Elect Sara Nelson as President of the AFL-CIO
Having Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson as the head of the AFL-CIO wouldn’t cure all that ails American labor, but it would be an enormous boon for the project of building a more democratic, militant, progressive US labor movement. It won’t be easy, but there’s a real path to getting her elected.
“This Would Really Push the Supreme Court Over the Top”
Much of the discussion around Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointment after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has been about crucial issues like abortion. But the court also rules regularly on issues of corporate power in America — and whoever Trump’s replacement is will be a steadfast friend to corporations.
What Jacobin Taught Me — And a Generation of Socialists
Jacobin has been publishing for 10 years now. And we still retain the hope that the solution to the world’s ills will come through more popular democracy and freedom, and not less.
Joe Biden Should Stop Shitting on the Democratic Party’s Base
Joe Biden keeps stomping on progressives — despite the fact that he desperately needs their votes. If he wants to defeat Donald Trump, this is exactly the wrong way to do it.
The Pandemic Has Totally Undermined Any Argument for Means-Tested Policies
For decades, austerity-minded politicians have bashed universal programs by concern trolling about the danger that a handful of rich people would get them. The urgency of the pandemic is helping people realize just how inconsequential this hang-up is compared to the advantages of universal benefits.
Un nuevo imaginario para nuestra América
La pandemia del COVID-19 impacta en una América Latina ya golpeada por la crisis económica y por una ofensiva conservadora casi sin precedentes. Pero los pueblos se resisten a dar la pulseada por perdida, y los ejemplos de resistencia y construcciones alternativas proliferan por toda la región.
La destrucción ambiental sin límites de Bolsonaro
Los meses de agosto y septiembre registraron nuevas embestidas contra el medioambiente por parte del gobierno brasileño, confirmando que sus políticas de ecocidio no conocen límites.
No, Social Media Isn’t Destroying Civilization
Netflix’s The Social Dilemma tells a horror story about how social media is creating political extremism and driving children into depression and addiction. But it never even hints that these ills have causes outside of our use of Facebook and Snapchat — and the possibility that what we see on these platforms portrays the reality of a sick society.
Rossana Rossanda (1924–2020)
Rossana Rossanda, who died on Sunday at age 96, was an anti-fascist partisan and cofounder of Italy’s il manifesto newspaper. A communist till the last, she insisted that the Left must defend its own identity — and unflinchingly take sides with the exploited and oppressed.
Good Riddance to the Kennedys
This month, Joe Kennedy III became the first Kennedy ever to lose an election in Massachusetts. In light of the occasion, a Masshole reflects on the awfulness of the Kennedy clan and celebrates the end of Kennedy hegemony.
Trump Claims He’s Pro-Worker. But His Labor Board Is Trying to Destroy Worker Organizing.
Donald Trump tries to portray himself as pro-worker. Nowhere is this absurdity better exposed than in the decisions of his National Labor Relations Board, which have over and over again favored bosses rather than workers.
Jacobin’s Achievement — And Our Mission in the Decade to Come
There is much to celebrate in Jacobin’s ten-year anniversary. We’re fostering a stable of socialist researchers and journalists — intellectuals who can deploy the same techniques as the professoriate, but toward ends that are dictated by their political commitments, not professional pressures.
We’re Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary. Help Us Stick Around for Many More.
Jacobin just turned 10. Here’s how you can help us stick around until the fight is won.
Having Socialist Elected Officials Makes a Difference for Working-Class People
For almost a decade, people in three Melbourne local councils — Yarra, Darebin, and Moreland — have elected socialist councilors to represent them. By standing up to developers, neoliberal local government managers, and the federal government, Melbourne’s socialist councilors have not let them down.
In Lenín Moreno’s Ecuador, Democracy Is in Danger
Following last year’s popular revolt against IMF-backed reforms, Ecuador’s neoliberal president Lenín Moreno has systematically pushed phony judicial processes to suppress opposition at the ballot box. The ban on leftist Rafael Correa’s candidacy makes a mockery of the 2021 election — and raises worrying questions over the future of democracy in Ecuador.