Off the Rails
Today’s rail and civil-service strike in France is the latest union fightback against Macron’s neoliberal agenda.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
“Crazy” Anticapitalism
Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You captures the crude madness that we live in every day under capitalism.
The Chinese Revolution at Seventy
The Chinese revolution turned seventy this week. If you were looking for reflection on the meaning of that revolution today, you wouldn't find it in mainstream media coverage.
How Bernie Won the Las Vegas Strip
I organized workers on the Las Vegas strip for Bernie Sanders. I saw firsthand how his pro-worker platform and message of solidarity won the day, despite anti–Medicare for All scaremongering.
A Son of His Class
Executed by the Nazis on this day in 1944, the life of German Communist Ernst Thälmann was as contradictory and tragic as the movement he led.
Obama’s Failures Birthed Trumpism
Many disasters followed the 2008 financial crisis. But possibly the worst was the mass popular disillusionment that resulted from Barack Obama’s failure to help the victims and punish the wrongdoers — a failure that led to Donald Trump.
Bernie Sanders Wants You to Fight
When Bernie Sanders says “It’s not about me, it’s about us,” he’s not just pandering. He’s trying to create a mass movement — because he knows that without one, his agenda doesn’t stand a chance.
Bernie Sanders Can Lead the Fight Against Coronavirus. Joe Biden Can’t.
At Sunday’s debate, Bernie Sanders can make clear that the policies he has long fought for, and Joe Biden has long opposed, are the ones we need to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Sanders has a chance to hit Biden hard — he shouldn't hold back.
Podemos: A “Party-Movement” in Government
Upon its creation in 2014, Podemos insisted it was nothing like the political parties that had long dominated Spain. Today, Pablo Iglesias’s party looks like an ever-more institutionalized force — yet one whose activists continue to see themselves as belonging to a “social movement” from below.
A Grift From God
The prosperity gospel, in both religious and secular form, is a giant con.
Rising Interest Rates Will Make Canada’s Housing Crisis Even Worse
Canada’s highly precarious housing market has long been perched on the edge of disaster. As the country’s central bank pushes up interest rates to fight inflation, that perch is looking more dangerous than ever.
May Day, Bloody May Day
On Berlin’s May Day 1929, the latent hostility between Social Democrats and Communists finally spilled over into bloodshed. A day meant to demonstrate workers’ unity instead showed tragic divisions in the face of rising Nazism.
The Revolutionary Life and Times of Michel Pablo
The Greek revolutionary Michel Pablo had a remarkable, globe-spanning career, from wartime resistance activity to his work supplying weapons and finance for the Algerian independence struggle. He’s finally gotten the biography he deserves.
Democratic Socialists Gave a Solid Performance in Yesterday’s Elections
The Democratic Socialists of America ran more than a dozen candidates across three states in electoral primaries yesterday. Ten have proceeded to the general — a strong showing for an electoral project that many fear has been placed on the defensive.
McDonald’s and the Failed Promise of Black Capitalism
McDonald’s has long portrayed itself as a champion of black uplift through black ownership of its franchises. But McDonald’s version of black capitalism, like the idea of black capitalism as a whole, has only ever benefited the few, not the many.
The Movement in Corbyn’s Wake
Corbyn proves you can run a traditional left campaign and energize young people. The future is ours.
The Antinomies of Perry Anderson
Perry Anderson’s essays on the history of Marxism show his dazzling erudition and breadth of historical vision. But the British Marxist’s work has also been deeply shaped by his changing political outlook, as his 1960s hopes in socialist revolution have given way to a more sober reading of capitalism’s crises.
France’s Presidential Election Is a One-Sided Culture War
Emmanuel Macron has often warned that France shouldn’t imitate US-style culture wars. But ahead of April’s election, the liberal president and his far-right challengers are all obsessing about what they call an “Islamo-leftist” threat to French national identity.
Go on Strike for Your Health and Safety
Now isn’t the time to blindly follow orders from bosses. To make sure our response to coronavirus is safe and just, workers need to take on-the-job action like sick-outs and strikes — as New York City educators have over the past week.
South Africa Doesn’t Need a “Lula Moment”
A real political alternative in South Africa will come from powerful social movements — not charismatic leaders.