The Left Must Seize This Moment, or Others Will

The COVID-19 pandemic will transform our world. Massive state intervention is essential to head off an unprecedented slump. We must come out of this crisis with a better society.

Tech Giants Are Using This Crisis to Colonize the Welfare System

In recent years, firms like Google and Facebook have used the Global South as a test bed for new and unregulated forms of data collection. Faced with coronavirus, the same mechanisms are being rolled out across the world — with for-profit data collection becoming increasingly central to states’ management of their welfare systems.

Liberal Democracy Is in Trouble — And Liberals Won’t Save It

The term “post-democracy” refers to the recent process where democratic institutions have been hollowed out and citizens increasingly excluded from decision-making. But a serious response to this problem can’t just denounce its “populist” symptoms — rather, we need to examine the deeper social ills stemming from economic liberalism itself.

The New Thatcherites

“To Halt Climate Change, We Need an Ecological Leninism”

Despite the obvious parallels with coronavirus shutdowns, states still show little determination to put in place the measures we’ll need to deal with the climate emergency. For Andreas Malm, we need to stop seeing climate change as a problem for the future — and use state power now to impose a drastic reordering of our economies.

Vladimir Putin’s Referendum Today Is Just Papering Over the Cracks of His Rule

Today, Russians vote in a constitutional referendum designed to give Vladimir Putin a fresh burst of legitimacy. His feeble response to the coronavirus pandemic has ruined his “strongman” reputation — and it’s feeding a growing mood of popular discontent.

Spain’s First Communist Minister Since the 1930s: “The Right Can’t Accept a Party Like Ours in Government”

This January, a pact between the Socialists and Unidas Podemos gave Spain its first ruling left-wing coalition since the Civil War. One of two communist ministers, Alberto Garzón, spoke to Jacobin about the government’s survival in these times of crisis — and why the militant right still refuses to accept its legitimacy.

Here’s What We Learned About the Far Right From Donald Trump’s Presidency

Despite his authoritarian tendencies, Donald Trump never came close to dragging us into fascism. But he did drag us further toward a xenophobic, anti–working-class, right-wing-populist abyss. Those forces will continue to destroy American and global politics — if we don’t take them on and defeat them.

It’s Time to Abolish the Organization of American States

A year since the Organization of American States made unfounded claims of electoral fraud in Bolivia, leftist leaders from across the region have called for its Trumpian secretary general to resign. Throughout its history, the OAS has been a tool of Washington's domination of Latin America — and an obstacle to genuine efforts at regional integration.

Don’t Break Up Facebook — Make It a Public Utility

We should be concerned about the power big tech firms have in our lives. But antitrust lawsuits against tech monopolies are just a Band-Aid for the real problem: the need to free the social networks we use from private profit and the drive to sell our data.

Scott Morrison Isn’t the Australian Trump — He’s a Margaret Thatcher Tribute Band

Australian PM Scott Morrison is often compared to Donald Trump. Morrison is certainly a race-baiter who serves the rich, but his brand of reheated “populism” borrows far more from Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and former PM John Howard. Unfortunately, it’s not dead yet.

Far-Right Intellectuals Are Offering Workers a Rotten Deal

Far-right intellectuals like Steve Bannon claim to speak for a working class put upon by out-of-touch liberal elites. But their anti-modernist, hierarchical vision of the world doesn’t offer workers what they really need: more money in their pockets, and more power at the workplace.

As Portugal Votes, the Far Right Is at Its Strongest Since the Return to Democracy

After the Carnation Revolution overthrew the dictatorship in 1974, Portugal boasted over four decades with no fascist presence in parliament. But with a far-right anti-migrant candidate likely to be runner-up in today’s presidential election, a hard-won anti-fascist consensus is beginning to crumble.

We Can’t Go Back to a Golden Age of Capitalism

Inequality is on the rise in the West but globally it’s in decline. Economist Branko Milanovic speaks to Jacobin about the shifting dynamics of capitalism, and why going back to its so-called “golden age” is not an option.

As German Unions Struggle to Save Jobs, Worker Buyouts Are on the Rise

Germany's employment model is under attack, as mass closures and cost-cutting businesses make once-stable engineering jobs ever more precarious. Some trade unionists have turned to worker buyouts as a means of saving jobs — a move that hands workers more control of their situation, but also brings dangers of its own.

Stop Jailing People for Saving Refugees’ Lives in the Mediterranean

A prosecutor in Sicily has charged twenty-one people, including the crew of the Iuventa migrant rescue ship, with aiding illegal immigration. The potential long jail terms show how European countries have criminalized aid for refugees — and how little they care about the thousands who drown in the Mediterranean.

Sorry, Anti-Zionism Still Doesn’t Equal Antisemitism

The struggle against Israeli apartheid has nothing to do with antisemitism — and everything to do with winning liberation for colonized Palestinians.

It’s Time to End the UK’s Minister-to-Lobbyist Pipeline

Former British prime minister David Cameron has been exposed using his contacts in government to help out his new bosses at finance firm Greensill Capital. The scandal points to the cronyism among Britain’s elites — and how a wider culture of privatization and outsourcing provides a breeding ground for corruption.

Against Meritocracy

When sociologist Michael Young coined the term "meritocracy," he was warning against the idea that we should have to compete to prove how talented or hardworking we are. A truly egalitarian society would guarantee a dignified existence for us all — regardless of arbitrary measures of how much we deserve it.

Canada’s Mining Industry Is Spreading Havoc Around the World — With Justin Trudeau’s Support

Three-quarters of the world’s mining companies are headquartered in Canada. Canadian mining firms are mired in corruption and human rights abuses around the world, yet Justin Trudeau has reneged on pledges to regulate them and end the abuses.