Thirty years since German reunification, the “new states” from the former East still suffer the effects of mass deindustrialization and emigration. But if reunification hasn't delivered the promises of 1990, socialists should recognize why most East Germans didn't defend the old system — and why welfare and public services aren’t enough to build a viable socialist society.
How tomorrow's Catalan independence vote came about — and why it should have the Left's support.
Friedrich Engels once wrote that he played “second fiddle” to Marx. On the 200 anniversary of his birth, we should remember the profound influence that Engels had on his friend and comrade, as well as his own theoretical contributions.
We’ve come a long way from the days of Cold War paranoia, when unions wanted nothing to do with the Communist-sounding International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day. Can it become a real American holiday celebrating class struggle?
New York City’s infamous jail on Rikers Island is one of the most brutal institutions of incarceration in America. Its conditions are the product not just of “tough-on-crime” policies but also of the best intentions of liberal criminal-justice reformers.
Democrats were ready to throw railworkers to the wolves, letting even Republicans outflank them on labor rights. But thanks to a last-minute legislative push by Bernie Sanders and his allies today, railworkers may be getting the sick leave they’re demanding.
Local elections saw La France Insoumise make its first real gains in taking over city halls. Ahead of the 2027 presidential race, it still badly needs to expand its voter base to have a chance of winning a national election.
By the 1970s, New Zealand’s union movement had grown to become powerful, popular, and left-wing. This was in large part thanks to leaders like Bill Anderson, whose organizing skills were matched by his political vision.
The first meeting of the Italian parliament in Rome, 150 years ago today, was a symbolic show of national reunification. Yet the battle against foreign domination had raised sharply contrasting ideas of the future Italy — leaving a lasting impact on socialists worldwide.
Despite significant changes in the economy, mass worker organizing is still possible.
We’ve suffered an irreparable loss with the passing of our friend and comrade Leo Panitch.
Friedrich Engels was born 200 years ago today. We should thank him for helping out his friend Karl Marx — but also for the critique of capitalism he produced in his own right.
The uptick in union organizing at brands like Amazon and Starbucks has rightly drawn attention from mainstream media. But worker organizing is underway at companies you’ve never heard of, too — and drawing little attention from outlets like the New York Times.
The unionization efforts of Starbucks workers have the bosses scared, Seattle socialist city councilor Kshama Sawant writes. Coffee workers should heed lessons from labor history and take a class-struggle approach to organizing.
We’re living through a bewildering moment for socialists. We talk to radical organizers Adolph Reed, Barbara Smith, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Jodi Dean, and Jane McAlevey about how they’re staying politically engaged under quarantine.
A new biography of Laurence Gronlund, a long-forgotten yet pivotal Marxian propagandist, sheds light on the rich complexities of Gilded Age socialism — one that forces us to consider how we package and present socialist ideas.
Democratic socialist and Pennsylvania State House candidate Kristin Seale talks to Jacobin about Medicare for All, the state of class consciousness in America, and the Democrats’ failure to challenge right-wing talking points.
The Communist Party of Finland was founded 100 years ago today. Its fate was tightly wound up with the Soviet Union across the border.
Landlords dominate Australia’s parliament and Reserve Bank. Their policies make the housing crisis worse.
Assembling a successful electoral coalition is difficult, but forging a governing coalition to run the city is even harder. Longtime social movements scholar Peter Dreier offers some advice for the potential next mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani.