Keir Starmer’s Market Solutions for Housing Won’t Work
Fixing Britain’s housing crisis requires rebuilding the country’s publicly owned housing system — the opposite of the private developer–centered approach recently announced by Keir Starmer.
Blog
Germany Should Be Supporting a Cease-Fire, Not Israel’s War
Germany’s political establishment strongly supports Israel’s war in Gaza, sending messages of “solidarity” as well as weapons. Nicole Gohlke, an MP for left-wing party Die Linke, writes for Jacobin on why Germany should instead be calling for a cease-fire.
Mayoral Hopeful Flo Cofer Envisions a Democratic Sacramento
With an activist background and a left-wing perspective, Sacramento mayoral candidate Flo Cofer bears the markers of an outsider candidate. But backed by big unions, sitting councilmembers, and the city paper, she’s giving the Sac elite a run for their money.
The Vatican’s History of Vicious Anti-Communism
Modern European history is sometimes told as a story of growing secularization. But the Catholic Church played a central role in 20th-century Europe as one of the main purveyors of anti-communism and a frequent ally of far-right reaction.
Itamar Moses’s The Ally Is an Exercise in Liberal Ambivalence
Itamar Moses’s new play The Ally, about free speech and Israel, boldly broaches the topic of Palestine activism on US college campuses. But the play ultimately stays on the safe side, endorsing agnosticism and inaction in a time of massacres.
Rossana Rossanda Upheld the Best Traditions of Italy’s Left
Rossana Rossanda represented the very best of the generation drawn to Italian communism in the 1940s. Rossanda insisted on the need for militant working-class politics throughout her life while much of the Italian left lost its political bearings.
Salvadorans Have Traded Their Rights for Uncertain Security
Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele will extend the state of exception that has earned the country the world’s highest incarceration rate. Gang violence has been traded for arbitrary arrest and detention — with working-class people bearing the brunt.
The US War on Yemen Is an Exercise in Futility
Joe Biden has launched yet another US war in the Middle East with his air strikes on Yemen. The bombing campaign won’t stop attacks on Red Sea shipping — but an end to Israel’s war on Gaza will.
The End of the Future
Both the Left and the Right used to articulate radically different visions of the future. Today the entire political spectrum looks backward, aiming to restore the past.
Gaza Doesn’t Need Patronizing “Empathy”
Self-help guru Brené Brown is calling for using the tools of “radical vulnerability” for dialogue in Israel-Palestine. The result is a vapid plea for empathy for both sides that shies from confronting the massacre actually underway in Gaza.
How Italy’s Left Tied Its Fate to a Scandal-Hit Influencer
Chiara Ferragni is Italy’s top influencer, a brand the center-left Democrats have long tried to associate themselves with. But now the fashion blogger and businesswoman is enveloped in scandal, showing the pitfalls of making influencers progressive icons.
The US Hindu Right Is Still Whitewashing the Gujarat Pogrom
Narendra Modi was head of Gujarat state when Hindu militants committed one of the worst anti-Muslim massacres in modern Indian history. Now he’s Indian prime minister — and his US allies are busily ensuring the Hindutva leader’s impunity.