Was John Stuart Mill a Socialist?
John Stuart Mill might have lots of libertarian fans, but his idiosyncratic ideas, despite their limitations, had more in common with democratic socialism than pro-capitalist ideologies.
411 Search Result(s) for: “Karl Marx”
When Richard Nixon Met Karl Polanyi
On the Guaranteed Annual Income, Nixon turned to Polanyi.
The Revolutionary Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg is an icon of the socialist movement who died a martyr’s death in 1919. But she was also a brilliant and highly original political thinker whose ideas about capitalism and how to oppose it are strikingly relevant to today’s world.
Living for the City
Marshall Berman's Modernism in the Streets is a final testament to his delicately intimate, thoroughly urban Marxism.
Max Weber Was a Class-Conscious Champion of the Bourgeoisie
During the Cold War, US sociologists lionized Max Weber as a superior alternative to Karl Marx. For all his brilliance, Weber’s social theory glosses over the violent, exploitative nature of capitalism and serves as a pessimistic defense of the status quo.
Game of Thrones and the End of Marxist Theory
What would a properly materialist reading of Game of Thrones look like?
The Rank and File Strategy
The labor movement is the critical institution for the Left. Socialists should root themselves in it — not as supporters from afar or paid staff, but as rank-and-file workers.
Socialism Is For Humanity
The ultimate aim of socialism is as simple as it is beautiful: the freeing of all people from domination, replacing stunted dreams and alienation with human flourishing and boundless creativity.
“If the Factory’s Being Handed to Creditors, We’ll Blow It Up First”
In 2017, 277 French autoworkers facing job loss destroyed €250,000 in machinery — and threatened to blow up the factory entirely. Jacobin spoke to the workers about how they explosively put their demands on France's political agenda.
Why You Should Join a Socialist Organization
There’s only one way to get the political education, organizing skills, and institutional support you need to be an effective socialist: join a socialist organization.
American Factory Co-Director Julia Reichert on Socialism
A day before she quoted Marx at the Oscars, Jacobin briefly chatted with American Factory co-director Julia Reichert about her democratic socialism and long history on the Left.
Russia Shows How Fascist Ideas Can Triumph Over an Atomized Society
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s coup attempt demonstrated the conflicts within Russia’s elite — but also the great political passivity of the general population. In today’s Russia, a fascist cult of violence has taken root in an atomized, demobilized society.
The Political Economy of Love in Capitalism
Love requires attention, affection, and reciprocal flow — a natural cycle of giving and receiving. Capitalism can easily commodify the first two, but the third resists the market. That’s precisely why our economic system is so determined to destroy it.
Sahra Wagenknecht Can’t Unite Germany’s Working Class
Long a leader of Germany’s left party Die Linke, Sahra Wagenknecht looks set on creating her own rival party. She accuses the Left of abandoning its historic base — but her appeal to conservative values divides the working class rather than uniting it.
In Defense of the Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School, a group of theorists who grappled with the defeat of Europe's revolutionary left, are often misunderstood. Critics charge them with obscurantism and elitism. They argued that, on the contrary, it was capitalism that obfuscated reality.
Living Up to Liberal Commitments Means Confronting Capitalism
A new book argues that liberalism offers not just a set of institutional norms but a compelling way of thinking about human flourishing. To offer a complete account of the good life, liberalism needs to confront the structural injustices of capitalism.
Trump Is Running Scared of Socialism
Donald Trump’s economic advisers released a bizarre report attacking socialism yesterday. Socialists can only take one lesson from it: we’re winning.
Slavery Was Crucial for the Development of Capitalism
Historian Robin Blackburn has completed a trilogy of books that provide a comprehensive Marxist account of slavery in the New World. He spoke to Jacobin about the intimate links between the slave systems in the Americas and the origins of capitalism.
We’re Still Learning From Rosa Luxemburg
More than a century after her murder, there’s still so much to discover in Rosa Luxemburg’s work as more of her writings become available in English. Brazilian writer Michael Löwy is one of the best guides we have.
Karl Kautsky Wrote Some Classic Works of Marxist History
The German Marxist thinker Karl Kautsky uncovered the radical history of Christianity, from the early years of the Church to the Reformation and the German Peasant War. His pioneering work in Marxist historiography deserves to be remembered today.