Five Years Later, Do Black Lives Matter?
Five years since its inception, a look at what the Black Lives Matter movement accomplished and the important work it left unfinished.
19362 Articles by: William G. Martin
William G. Martin teaches at SUNY-Binghamton and is co-author of After Prisons? Freedom, Decarceration, and Justice Disinvestment (2016) and a founding member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier; he covers local justice matters at www.justtalk.blog
We Can Dance, and It Will Be Our Revolution
Founder of the oldest professional dance school in the United States, Martha Graham refused to perform at the Nazi Olympics and created a lasting stage for political dissent. Modern dance has deep links to radical politics — and the protests of those who stepped out of the chorus line.
How France Insoumise Was Reduced to a Protest Vote
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s breakthrough in the 2017 presidential election brought France Insoumise to the heart of French public life. Yet today, as its base shrinks to a traditional far-left electorate, the movement’s very survival is in doubt.
Kamala Harris’s Signature Achievement Was a Complete Failure
Kamala Harris trumpets a criminal justice program she instituted as district attorney as proof she’s a “progressive prosecutor.” The only problem? The program utterly failed to reduce mass incarceration in California.
The Spanish Left at War
Spain’s Socialist premier Pedro Sánchez has refused to grant top cabinet jobs to the radical left party Podemos. And as Spain faces another general election, Podemos faces a tough battle against division and marginalization.
The Elitism of the “Anti-Populists”
Pundits analyzing the “populist threat” often assume an audience that wants to defend the status quo. Presenting all political “outsiders” as merely dangerous, anti-populist literature tells us more about the role of public intellectuals than the movements it is meant to describe.
Medicines for the Many
In the UK and across the world Big Pharma is ripping off public health systems and denying patients vital medicines. This week, Labour showed there is an alternative.
When Socialist Hungary Went Neoliberal
The events of 1989 are usually remembered as an unprecedented extension of the “free market” to formerly socialist countries. But as the history of 1970s Hungary shows, neoliberal restructuring had never been limited to the West — and spread East long before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
GM Workers Need More Than a Decent Contract
The GM workers out on strike have been hit with concessions for years. They need more than a decent contract — they need a transformational agreement that puts workers’ rights before GM’s profits.
“Now Is a Good Time for Working People to Get Involved in Politics”
Jacobin spoke with Lili Baiman, a democratic socialist running for Columbus, Ohio city council. She wants to support the city’s labor movement and strengthen tenants’ rights. Socialism, for her, “means power and equality.”
Battling Neoliberalism Through Anti-Autocracy in Nicaragua
The anti-autocracy movement in Nicaragua is a reflection of broader popular struggles against neoliberal policies across Central America. It shouldn’t be dismissed or reduced to its most reactionary elements.
Modi’s Mass Muslim Detention Scheme
Narendra Modi’s hard-right agenda is rolling on, unimpeded by significant opposition in India. His latest attack: on 1.9 million undocumented people, with the intention of displacing Bengali Muslims from northeastern India.
The End of Anti-Fascism
The European Parliament has condemned communism as equivalent to Nazism. Based on a fantasy reading of history, the motion smears all “radicalism” as “totalitarian” — and dismisses the moral superiority of those who fought fascism.
Why Bernie Sanders Matters
The rationale for Bernie Sanders’s brand of politics has always been that it’s better to aim at shifting the basic parameters of American politics — however difficult that may be — than accepting those parameters and trying to maneuver within them.
Boris Johnson’s Prime Ministership Lies in Ruins
The UK Supreme Court has torpedoed Boris Johnson’s entire strategy for his prime ministership and likely sparked a civil war inside the Conservative Party. As elections approach, the danger now is a Tory lurch to the far right.
On Foreign Policy, Kamala Harris Is a Hawk
Kamala Harris doesn’t say much about foreign policy on the campaign trail. But a look at her record shows that when it comes to militarism, she’s squarely in line with — and sometimes to the right of — a hawkish, war-happy Democratic establishment.
Why Is Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten Attacking Medicare for All?
Medicare for All would be a huge boon for American workers, both unionized and nonunion. So why has American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten — whose own union endorsed single-payer last year — spent the week arguing against Medicare for All?
In Joe Biden, the Health Care Industry Has Found Its Guy
A new survey conducted by a Biden-linked firm is workshopping Biden’s own attacks against Medicare for All. His campaign is part of a multifront corporate effort to defeat the policy.
Italy’s Five Falling Stars
In just ten years, the Five Star Movement has risen from nowhere to become Italy’s leading party, and then collapsed again. Its volatile support and eclectic politics aren’t just an Italian quirk — they show how voter binds to political institutions are crumbling across the West.
Ernst Meyer, Theorist of Revolutionary Realpolitik
Despite his close relationship with Rosa Luxemburg, early KPD chairman Ernst Meyer is rarely remembered among the historic leaders of the German left. Yet his writing on “revolutionary Realpolitik” offers key insights for socialist strategy today.