Anthem of the Commoners
Pulp’s 1995 hit “Common People” isn’t just a Britpop classic — it’s a more honest and brutal analysis of class than you’ll hear in the media today.
Search Result(s) for: “%s”
The Communist Party Just Won the Elections in Austria’s Second-Biggest City
In Sunday’s elections in Graz, Austria, the Communist Party romped to victory for the first time in history. Jacobin spoke to one of its winning candidates about how the party built a “red fortress” in the city.
France’s Far Right Is Setting the Agenda Because the Mainstream Allows It To
Ahead of the 2022 election, French media are presenting an inevitable duel between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the "populist" Marine Le Pen. Yet for decades we've seen how this liberal framing fuels far-right talking points — echoing Le Pen's false claim to stand for those "left behind" against the status quo.
How the New York Review of Books Gets Perry Anderson and Brazil Wrong
The New York Review of Books has dismissed Perry Anderson’s study of Brazil as a product of stodgy, doctrinaire leftism. But it’s their own reviewer, Larry Rohter, who lets dogma get in the way of facts.
How Spain Shamed Itself by Leaving the Elderly to Die Under Coronavirus
Newly released emails from Madrid’s right-wing government show how authorities instructed care homes not to take elderly coronavirus patients to hospitals. The result was one of Europe’s highest death tolls — the outcome of a privatized care system that prefers saving money over saving the lives of the vulnerable.
Russia’s Oligarchs Are Stashing Their Wealth Abroad — Just Like America’s
The techniques Russian billionaires use to avoid taxes and hide their wealth are the same ones American billionaires use. In fact, they often execute them with the help of the same Western companies.
Europe’s Coronavirus Recovery Program Will Make It Even More Unequal
The negotiations over a European Union bailout were riven with splits on whether “frugal” Northern states should have to assist their coronavirus-hit Southern partners. But while the eventual €750 billion deal was widely hailed as a victory for European solidarity, its details show that it will aggravate the EU’s inequalities even further.
Twee Began as an Unabashedly Radical Subculture
Love it or hate it, twee is back. It’s the subject of innumerable think pieces, but the subculture’s radical roots in feminism, punk, and the fight against Margaret Thatcher often go unnoticed.
The Biden Administration May Protect a Corrupt Bank Linked to Russian Oligarchs
Credit Suisse, the bank whose donors gave over $100,000 to Joe Biden’s campaign, has ties to Russian oligarchs and has been repeatedly found guilty of serious financial crimes. Yet Biden’s administration is considering waiving any punishment for the bank.
Liberalism’s Exclusions and Expansions
A review of Domenico Losurdo’s Liberalism: A Counter-History.
Even in Solidly Blue States, Democrats Aren’t Pursuing Serious Progressive Change
Is it really true that if the Democrats had big majorities in Congress, we’d see the sweeping change party stalwarts promise in election campaigns? Here’s a good test: look at the blue states, where Democrats govern virtually alone. It’s not a pretty picture.
Western Sanctions on Russia Aren’t Working as Intended
The US-led sanctions on Russia were meant to force an end to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and weaken his hold on power. Instead, their main effect has been to exacerbate the West’s own economic problems and deepen its internal divisions.
Jessica Walter Was Robbed of the Decades-Long Stardom She Deserved
Jessica Walter thankfully found fame through roles like Arrested Development’s Lucille Bluth late in her life. But she should’ve been a major star when she was a young woman. Hollywood’s misogyny in the 1960s and ’70s made that impossible.
Australia Is Enabling State Violence in the Philippines
Australia has a long history of meddling in the affairs of its Pacific neighbors. In the Philippines, right-wing strongman Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” amounts to state terror — which Australia's government has enthusiastically supported through military aid and legal advice.
Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony Was a Defiant Counterblast to Nazi Aggression
Performed in a city under siege, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony symbolized popular resistance to the Nazi invasion. A complex work with several layers of political meaning, the symphony was a high point of twentieth-century classical music.
Brazil Has Just Experienced Another “Lost Decade”
In Brazil’s worst decade in more than a century, unemployment, precarious and informal work, poverty, and inequality are all sharply on the rise. In a crisis stoked by a far-right government, fixing the country’s economy can only happen with a political reckoning from the Left.
Men Is Terrifying — Until It Succumbs to Its Big Ideas
Alex Garland’s Men is a horror movie about how awful it is to be a woman. But he’s so intent on driving this point home that all the terror drains out of the film by the end, and only annoyance at the didactic exercise remains.
Democrats Are Ditching Class, and It’s Costing Them Working-Class Voters
Neither mainstream American political party has a compelling message for working-class voters. As a result, voters are starting to vote in line with their cultural opinions, not their class interests. Unfortunately, that’s good news for the Right.
In Britain, the Left Is Resisting a Massive Expansion of Police Powers
A bill advanced by Boris Johnson’s government would give British police massive powers to criminalize protest and evade public scrutiny. But the “Kill the Bill” movement has mobilized impressive opposition against it — providing a first sign of the Left rebuilding after Jeremy Corbyn’s defeat.
How Deportation Became the Core of Europe’s Migration Policy
In recent years, the European Union’s member states have built their migration policies around an evermore elaborate system of filtering people and finding ways to expel them. This effort to put up obstacles isn’t just expensive or inefficient, but outright antihuman — subjecting migrants’ lives to the whims of recruiters and opaque bureaucratic processes.