Die Linke’s Missing Link
Germany’s Die Linke is now a party for the highly educated and middle-income. While its new leadership promises to rebuild the party’s working-class roots, it won’t be easy.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
Greg Abbott Is Texas’s Most Powerful Governor Ever. That’s Bad for Working People.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has forever changed the state’s politics. To undo the damage he has caused, we can’t rely on top-down initiatives. We need a working-class alternative.
Defining Bernie’s Democratic Socialism
Bernie Sanders’s democratic socialism has always centered on improving the lives of working-class people and exposing how exploitation by the rich robs them of the opportunity to live dignified lives. Corporate Democrats who continue to ignore or undermine this agenda are putting themselves, the country, and the world in great peril.
Can Zohran Mamdani Expand the Left’s Base?
As Zohran Mamdani mounts a surging campaign for NYC mayor, his bid is becoming a model to replicate for the next wave of the US left. Can he expand his appeal to working-class demographics the Left has so far struggled to reach?
Union Dues Are About Building Democratic, Self-Sustaining, Working-Class Organizations
Bosses like management at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, where workers are trying to unionize, love to bring up union dues as part of their union-busting. But union organizers shouldn’t shy away from talking about why dues are important: they allow workers to pool the resources needed to fight the boss and win.
“The Feminism of the 1 Percent Has Associated Our Cause With Elitism”
The likes of Hillary Clinton have tarnished the name of feminism, associating it with neoliberalism and anti–working-class politics. For Nancy Fraser, feminism has to be about overthrowing corporate power, not giving it a female face.
Ray’s a Laugh, 28 Years Later
When Richard Billingham published photos of his poor and alcoholic family, critics asked whether he had betrayed or humanized them. Walter Benn Michaels reflects on the images’ legacy and on working-class photography under neoliberalism 28 years later.
Feminism Must Include Empathy for Working-Class Men
Elite feminism at times substitutes a culture of contempt for a culture of care. If we are truly devoted to gender equality, we must ditch the assumption that all men enjoy similar privilege.
Seattle’s Socialists Are Now Enemy Number One for Jeff Bezos and Amazon
In 2018, Amazon beat back Seattle’s attempts to tax the corporation. Last week, socialist city council member Kshama Sawant and a working-class movement helped win a veto-proof majority for a new “Amazon tax.” Now it’s time to defend this victory.
If Harris Loses Today, This Is Why
To win working-class voters — and possibly today’s election — Democrats need to attack economic elites. But the Kamala Harris campaign hasn’t consistently offered an anti-elite counter to Donald Trump’s right-wing populism.
Nina Turner Showed That a Left Candidate Can Win Black Workers
Nina Turner’s primary loss this week stings, but a close look at the numbers makes clear her loss wasn’t the result of a bold left-wing candidate being unable to win over black workers. On the contrary: in black working-class districts, Turner performed well.
Don’t Look Back in Anger
Britpop is often dismissed as an embarrassing, retrograde moment in British culture. But at its best, it hinted at what might have happened if the working class had managed to regain its sense of power and pride after the defeats of the 1980s.
Living, Not Just Surviving
Working-class movements must place social and ecological reproduction at the heart of their vision of the future.
How the Ukrainian Working Class Was Born
At the turn of the last century, Ukraine’s labor movement was subject to tsarist domination and divided along linguistic lines. The revolutions of 1917 inspired calls for self-determination and the formation of a common Ukrainian identity.
“Responsible Conservatives” Won’t Save Us From Fascism
History shows that when working-class strength threatens the status quo, even moderate conservatives won’t balk at making common cause with fascists.
The Last Thing Labour Needs Is a “Progressive Alliance”
The Liberal Democrats’ by-election victory in a seat long held by the Tories has fed talk of an electoral pact between Labour and the Lib Dems. But Labour needs to be rebuilt as a party of the working class — not just another brand of vaguely defined progressives.
Labor’s Role in the Fight for Turkish Democracy
The arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has prompted more than a month of protests in Turkey. The demonstrations have rallied many working-class Turks, but they’ve also shown the limited strength of organized labor.
You’ve Been Lied to About the 1963 March on Washington
The March on Washington was 59 years ago today. It’s popularly remembered as a moderate demonstration where MLK “had a dream” — but in fact, it was the decades-long culmination of a mass, working-class movement against racial and economic injustice.
Why the Uprising in Belarus Failed
It's six months since the fraudulent election in Belarus sparked mass protests against Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian regime. The collapse of his statist model of capitalism has fed mass discontent with his rule — but the liberal opposition's own promises of change also drew skepticism among working-class Belarusians.
The Demand for Student Debt Cancellation Should Be Paired With Tuition-Free Public College
The demand to cancel student debt is vital, but it would be politically dangerous to let it get detached from a broader left vision for higher education. We should unite it with another key working class demand: tuition-free public college and trade school.