24 Articles by: Vivek Chibber
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Vivek Chibber is a professor of sociology at New York University. He is the editor of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy.
Let’s Celebrate Noam Chomsky, the Intellectual and Moral Giant
More than any other thinker in the postwar era, Noam Chomsky has embodied Karl Marx’s favorite dictum: “nothing human is alien to me.”
The Iraq Invasion 20 Years Later
How the American political class brought a disaster to the Middle East.
To Fight Imperialism Abroad, Build Class Struggle at Home
The idea that workers in wealthy countries like the United States are part of a “labor aristocracy” bought off with the fruits of imperialism is nonsense. The best way to build a movement against US imperialism is to build the labor movement domestically.
You Can’t Have Socialism Without the Working Class
The task of socialists in 2022 is the same as it’s always been, says sociologist Vivek Chibber: to build working-class organization. That requires clarity about the central political role of the working class.
Vivek Chibber: “Bad Ideas” Aren’t Keeping Workers From Fighting Back
Critics often say the working class doesn’t fight back against exploitation because it’s confused about its real interests. But this ignores how capitalism itself leads workers to resign themselves to their situation — and how we can overcome that resignation.
Edward Said’s Orientalism and Its Afterlives
Edward Said’s Orientalism instilled an anti-imperial sensibility into an entire generation of Western scholars. But even while it castigated the imperial project, its actual analysis didn’t give us the intellectual resources to overturn it.
Labor’s Long March
The question is no longer whether the working class matters, but how it can fight back.
Conservatism Is Morally Bankrupt
Conservatives claim to defend tradition. The truth is, they actually defend domination and illegitimate power over others.
Leo Panitch (1945–2020)
We’ve suffered an irreparable loss with the passing of our friend and comrade Leo Panitch.
Leo Panitch (1945–2020)
The global left has suffered an irreparable loss with the passing of Leo Panitch this weekend. He was incredibly warm, inviting, and generous to others. And he remained committed to the end to the cause of socialism and human emancipation.
Celebrating Ten Years of Jacobin
And our decades to come.
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.
How to Be a Socialist in the Twenty-First Century
Erik Olin Wright devoted his life to figuring out ways the world could finally leave capitalism behind. His final book holds crucial lessons about which strategies belong to the past and which ones can build the bridge to a socialist future.
Erik Olin Wright (1947–2019)
Erik Olin Wright was radicalized in the 1960s and remained a Marxist because his moral compass simply wouldn’t allow him to drift away. With his death, the Left has lost one of its most brilliant intellectuals.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
Class struggle and running for office often pull in opposite directions. But we can’t build a socialist politics without navigating those waters.
Our Road to Power
The twentieth century left socialists plenty of lessons. Will we heed them?
Workers Hold the Keys
Despite the threat of automation and the weakness of organized labor, workers still hold the key to winning social change.
Why We Still Talk About the Working Class
Socialists focus on the working class because of our diagnosis of what’s wrong with society and our prognosis of how to fix it.
Why the Working Class?
Workers are at the heart of the capitalist system. And that’s why they are at the center of socialist politics.