Wouter van de Klippe is a freelance journalist and writer based in Europe. He is particularly interested in organized labor, social and environmental justice, and social welfare states.
Though Bill Clinton ran for president on promises of empowering workers, in office he gutted welfare and passed NAFTA, undermining organized labor and driving working-class voters away from the Democratic Party. We’re still living with the consequences.
In Monfalcone, in northeastern Italy, the far-right mayor has banned public Muslim prayer. Home to Europe’s largest shipyard, the town is a crucible of Italy’s rising migrant workforce — and the racist backlash against it.
Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza has already killed over 24,000 Palestinians. But the environmental effects of the war — from pollution of groundwater and soil to destruction of Gaza’s olive trees — will have devastating impacts long after the bombing stops.
Activists are often held up as exemplars of personal morality — but in every social struggle, ordinary people with complex lives rise up as leaders. Ivory Perry was one of these who waged a relentless war for racial and economic justice.
The iconic labor song “Solidarity Forever” turns 109 years old today. Written in defiance of early 20th-century oppression, it railed against the forces that “would lash us into serfdom” with the abiding counsel that the “union makes us strong.”
Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, like much of MLK’s legacy, is selectively remembered. It attacked the material roots of American racism, just as his anti–Vietnam War speech five years later excoriated American militarism.
Housing vouchers can help people afford shelter. At the same time, they exclude millions of eligible people, open vulnerable tenants up to exploitation by property owners, and empower bad landlords. To end homelessness, we must move beyond the voucher system.
When the Great Depression sank workers to new depths, craft unions weren’t up to the task. Then, in 1934, a team of revolutionary leftists in Minneapolis organized a brave and bloody strike that reinvigorated labor and changed the course of American history.
Nikki Haley’s political career has been great for corporate executives and campaign donors. For everyone else, particularly workers and the poor, it’s been terrible.
Germany’s former Die Linke parliamentary leader Sahra Wagenknecht has founded a new party. She claims it’s a voice for the ignored middle and working classes — but the party is mainly focused on winning over Germans who’ve turned to the far right.
Spain’s Law of Democratic Memory was meant to end official silence over the Spanish Civil War and shed light on Franco-era crimes. But right-wing parties are using their power to ensure the truth remains buried.
After attending the International Court of Justice hearing on Israeli genocide, Jeremy Corbyn writes on how South Africa’s lawyers are upholding basic human dignity — and how Western states have shamed themselves by defending Israel’s crimes.
Since 2019, public school teachers across Massachusetts have been going on strike, which is illegal under state law. In November 2023, Andover teachers defied the ban and won big pay raises with a three-day strike.
Pounded by IDF bombs, Gaza’s population is today on the brink of starvation. For decades, Israel has systematically suppressed Palestinians’ independent economic activity — ensuring their dependence on Israel’s own economy.
Earlier this month, a gaping hole opened in the side of a Boeing airplane with hundreds of passengers on board. If Boeing had prioritized safety upgrades over lavish executive salaries and stock buybacks, this disaster might not have happened.
Joe Biden could use US leverage to support a cease-fire in Gaza and end the Houthis’ attacks on commercial ships. Instead he’s chosen to escalate the Gaza war by bombing Yemen.
Head of Britain’s RMT rail union Mick Lynch has in recent years become a household name. His stout defense of his members has won him wide acclaim — yet his newfound fame also reflects just how rare such voices are in British public life.
It’s not just that Australia’s mental health care system is underfunded. Austerity has bolstered reliance on quick, cost-cutting treatments like medication and cognitive behavioral therapy at the expense of long-term, socially oriented approaches.
Guatemala’s corrupt ruling class is trying to bring down president-elect Bernardo Arévalo, who takes office on January 14. The country’s democracy is at stake in the battle.
Facebook parent company Meta is facing a massive lawsuit alleging the company is knowingly hurting young people, including by accepting underage use. Court documents suggest this is true — and that executives have been egregiously callous about harms to kids.