There are moments when even the most committed of democrats find themselves despairing of political democracy. But the system has proven again and again to be the last best hope of ordinary people in defending their pursuit of happiness against tyrants of all stripes — both public and private.
Ahead of May's Scottish elections, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon finds herself embroiled in an intense row with her predecessor Alex Salmond, who last week formed his own separate party. The clash between the two is sure to dominate the election campaign — but it's also a distraction from the democratic issues at the heart of the independence movement.
You wouldn't know it from the whitewashed image of her as an angelic, unthreatening icon, but Helen Keller — yes, that Helen Keller — was a socialist.
The British Empire should be a fading memory. But modern-day conservatives have turned imperial nostalgia into a powerful weapon in the country’s culture wars, vilifying those who want a more honest reckoning with Britain’s historic crimes.
Ursula K. Le Guin was born on this day in 1929. She used science fiction to explore the failures of capitalist society — and the alternative worlds we could build in its place.
Starbucks is seeking good PR by offering to cover travel costs for abortion and gender-affirming care for workers like me. But its promises come with caveats and can be revoked. We don’t want flimsy promises — we want these benefits in a union contract.
Fashionable academic theorists have dismissed the Marxist approach to nationalism as outdated and inadequate. But it remains an indispensable guide to national independence movements — urging support for them when they represent a challenge to capitalist rule.
Ling Ma’s new short story collection, Bliss Montage, leads us down strange, stimulating paths — and then leaves us before we can fully gather our bearings.
Political movements are not just driven by theories or even material interests but also their myths. Italian historian Furio Jesi was a socialist who examined the power of mythology — and its centrality to the Right’s cultural influence.
The Right uses “Marxism” to describe everything from LGBTQ rights to corporate diversity measures. It’s a deeply confused definition. But it’s not wrong about one thing: Marxists do indeed want to dismantle all forms of oppression.
In the imbroglio over Pablo Picasso’s misogyny and many personal flaws, the memory of his unabashed leftist politics has been lost — and with it our ability to fully consider his place in history.
Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe claimed to have identified the fatal flaw of Marxism and developed a better framework for left politics. But their taboo against class “essentialism” means they can’t identify the strengths and weaknesses of capitalist power.
It’s no surprise that Tories are fine with keeping kids in poverty. But if the Labour Party refuses to oppose such a heartless policy, Labour doesn’t deserve to be in power.
The new corporate thriller Fair Play depicts an intra-office relationship gone sour — but asks audiences to relate to the relationship struggles of the 0.1%.
Netflix’s resident horror auteur is back with his take on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. You’ll have a good time — even if some of the nods to “sociopolitical relevance” might send your eyes rolling.
Anya Taylor-Joy revs up her engines for Furiosa, but this Mad Max prequel is running on fumes.
Film industry executives are scared of them. Audiences are bored by them. It’s a dismal time for political films.
After his tragic death earlier this month, Marxist sociologist Michael Burawoy left behind not only a formidable body of scholarship but also a model of how to pursue a form of sociology informed by and informing efforts for social change.
Spain’s left-wing alliance Sumar sought to use high office to deliver workers’ rights and lower the cost of living. During the pandemic, it made progress — but now that the broad-left coalition has no majority, Sumar is struggling to make itself heard.
Working-class men in the US have fallen behind women on a number of indicators of well-being. This is not due to a battle of the sexes, but because decades of growing inequality and precarity have had differential impacts on men and women.