A British Suffragette in America
British suffragette and socialist Sylvia Pankhurst didn't just want to talk to "society ladies" about the right to vote. She wanted the women's movement to be part of a broader emancipatory project.
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The Left Under Duterte
Former Philippine congressman Walden Bello on what Duterte's election means for the Left.
China Fantasies
Illusions on both the Left and Right about China miss how the contradictions of capitalism are shaping that country’s development.
Japan’s Long Stagnation Is a Case Study for the Future of Western Capitalism
The major capitalist economies of Europe and North America have been experiencing low rates of economic growth and population increase. Japan has been in that position since the 1990s, and its experience offers some important clues about what the future holds.
How Hollywood’s Anti-Communist Crackdown Made TV and Movies Bland and Boring
The conformity of 1950s film and television was the result of the successful McCarthyist purge of leftists — and their genres — from the entertainment industry. The life of socialist screenwriter Very Caspary shows how it was done and what was lost.
Netflix Must Be Stopped
For years, Big Tech’s growing dominance over Hollywood has meant lower-quality movies and TV shows. Now, with Netflix and Paramount Skydance fighting over Warner Bros. Discovery, audiences are left with little say in the matter.
Killers of the Flower Moon Is the Subdued and Serious Side of Scorsese
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is an admirable, thoughtful film. But it lacks the wild, old Marty energy that brought us so many Scorsese classics.
Mick Lynch Has Put Working-Class Politics Back on the Agenda
British railworkers’ leader Mick Lynch came to prominence as part of the 2022 strike wave. Lynch’s popularity shows the appetite for unapologetic class politics, although trade unions still face major obstacles to converting that mood into power.
Harry Belafonte’s Promising Career as a Film Star Ended Before It Really Began
Harry Belafonte, who died earlier today at age 96, was well known for his groundbreaking music career and civil rights activism. But in his early years, he appeared poised to become a major film star. We revisit two of his forgotten early classics here.
When Fascism Destroyed Italy’s Socialist City Halls
After World War I, city hall Socialists around Italy built an impressive array of welfare programs, schools, and libraries. The Fascist backlash soon showed the limits of their strength and the impossibility of relying on urban citadels of power alone.
In Russia, They Don’t Read Lenin Anymore
Soviet symbols are widespread in today’s Russia, including in propaganda for the war in Ukraine. But in the classroom, the Soviet legacy is reduced to a nationalist cult of World War II, while burying even the notional idea of a more equal society.
In Germany, Too, Pro-Palestine Protesters Get Deported
Berlin’s city government has moved to deport four pro-Palestine protesters. Even as centrist parties warn against the far-right threat, they introduce the powers beloved by authoritarian leaders.
Grime for Corbyn
A wave of endorsements have brought Britain’s most vibrant music scene together with its most left-wing political leader.
Die Linke: Ten Years On
A decade after its formation, can Germany's Die Linke manage its contradictions and live up to its promise?
We Need to Learn Lessons From Labour’s “Antisemitism Crisis”
The British Labour Party botched its response to false allegations of rampant antisemitism among the party membership. Left-wing movements in other countries can’t make the same mistake.
Bertolt Brecht’s Refugee Conversations Is a Book for Our Times
The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht died on this day in 1956. His newly released book Refugee Conversations draws on his own years in exile to tear apart the anti-immigrant politics which still plague us today.
Donald Rumsfeld Was a Bloodthirsty Warrior for the Free Market
The American warfare state’s upper reaches are filled with bloodthirsty megalomaniacs. But few have been as deranged as Donald Rumsfeld, whose appetite for imperial violence combined with free market zealotry produced one of the most spectacular failures in all of US military history.
“A Free Homeland and a Happy People”
Iraq’s Communist movement has survived nine decades filled with tragedy and fleeting success. Can it shape the new Iraq?
The Misadventures of Cybersyn
Chile’s Project Cybersyn should be remembered as a masterful branding effort — not a road to socialism.
The Return of Industrial Policy
Industrial policy is back in vogue in recent years — but without the working-class power to discipline capital, it’s just public money flowing to private profit.