What It Means to Be a Marxist
We can only change the world if we understand the actual forces around us. Marxism gives us the tools to do just that.
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The Theorist Who Reached Across Time
When the great radical thinker Sheldon Wolin died this week, he left behind a singular approach to political theory.
The Left Should Take Alasdair MacIntyre Seriously
Alasdair MacIntyre’s original critique of liberal modernity has won followers on the Left and the Right. His account of how capitalism has undermined the conditions of human flourishing deserves the serious attention of socialists.
Thomas Sowell Is a Cynical Man
Thomas Sowell has been a titan of conservative politics for decades. Underneath the erudition and prolific output is a cynical thinker who puts an intellectual gloss on social domination.
How Capitalism Undermines Freedom
In his refutation of the famous libertarian arguments of Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia, socialist thinker G. A. Cohen showed the absurdity of thinking that we had to accept an unequal society in order to preserve liberty.
A Philosophy for the Propertied
Libertarianism offers no solution to today's plutocratic politics — it's nothing more than a reactionary rejection of political struggle.
Conservatives Are Wrong: There’s Nothing Natural About Hierarchy
Conservative thinkers like Roger Scruton defend traditional hierarchies as natural and inescapable. But our social order is the product of human decisions — and it can be remade to benefit the many rather than the few.
Debunking the Economist’s Myths of Free-Market Liberalism
The Economist’s liberalism is often framed as the politics of human rights and individual freedom, but its origins lie just as much in a fear of the masses and democracy.
20 Years Later, The Wire Is Still a Cutting Critique of American Capitalism
The first season of The Wire began 20 years ago this month. It remains one of this century's great television shows — both stylish and smart, with unforgettable characters woven into a striking portrait of the depredations of capitalism in one US city.
The Birth of Analytic Philosophy Out of the Spirit of McCarthyism
Analytic philosophy, the hegemonic branch of the discipline in the US, often thinks of itself as above history and politics. But its rise, and its enduring influence, are owed to McCarthyism, which purged radicals from postwar philosophy.
The Antinomies of Perry Anderson
Perry Anderson’s essays on the history of Marxism show his dazzling erudition and breadth of historical vision. But the British Marxist’s work has also been deeply shaped by his changing political outlook, as his 1960s hopes in socialist revolution have given way to a more sober reading of capitalism’s crises.
Don’t Mention the War
With a vacuous social vision, economics confronts the “return of the social question” woefully unprepared.
Étienne Balibar: Socialism and Democracy Are Intrinsically Related Ideas
Marxist philosopher Étienne Balibar sits down with Jacobin to discuss freedom and democracy — and why socialists need to reclaim those words from the Right.
The Wire and the World
A decade ago, The Wire series finale aired. The show was a Marxist's idea of what TV drama should be.
Tales From the Cold War
A new crop of Cold War spy dramas revels in the thrill of crossing enemy lines more than depicting political realities.
Pinker’s Progress
The progress Steven Pinker identifies is real, but so is the growing gap between what is and what could be.
Joseph Stiglitz and the Limits of Liberal Freedom
The economist Joseph Stiglitz has long criticized neoliberalism without embracing nationalism or chauvinism. His latest, The Road to Freedom, reclaims the concept for progressive forces but fails to adequately examine unfreedom in the workplace.
Why Socialists Shouldn’t Reject Liberalism
The historical shortcomings of liberalism don’t mean that socialists should throw liberalism out wholesale. On the contrary: socialism needs liberalism.
The Case for a Liberal Socialism
Liberals and socialists typically see themselves as foes. But truly realizing liberal ideals of freedom and equality means building a socialist order — a lesson liberals and socialists alike would do well to remember.
An Autonomy Worth Having
Promoting meaningful freedom to people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse requires going beyond simple questions of individual choice.