What Strategy for the US Left?
The capitalist state’s dependence on profitability and its institutional structure make the strategy of successive, partial breaks through “non-reformist reforms” unrealistic.
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Saving France’s Railways
Yesterday, French rail workers kicked off months of rolling strikes against Macron’s attacks on their working conditions.
“We Are a Marxist Party That Believes in a Socialist Future”
In Belgium, a party of Marxist-Leninist background is mounting a surprising challenge to the mainstream.
Charlie Hebdo and the Gilets Jaunes
The reaction to the Paris terror attacks in 2015 identified Charlie Hebdo with freedom of speech. Yet the magazine's anti-working-class smears are today used to silence the gilets jaunes.
The “Best” of Karl Kautsky Isn’t Good Enough
Charlie Post cautions against recent defenses of Second-International Marxist Karl Kautsky.
Is Left Populism the Solution?
Left populism is the new idiom of radical politics worldwide. It emerged as the answer to the problem of a weak and disorganized working class — but despite its electoral successes, that class remains weak and disorganized.
Power Has Returned to Power
The defeats for Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and Manuela Carmena in Madrid compound recent woes for Podemos. As popular movements decline, the Spanish left’s onetime promise has given way to the stabilization of the center.
“The World Is Divided in Two”
The rise of the far right in post-industrial France has led many to declare the end of the old class politics. For CGT union leader Philippe Martinez, the battle isn’t over — organized labor just needs to adapt to new forms of employment.
How a President Bernie Sanders Could Take on Wall Street
If Bernie Sanders wins the presidency, he’ll confront numerous obstacles to his agenda. To overcome those obstacles, we need a strategy to take on capital, especially Wall Street — and we need to start thinking about that strategy right now.
The Day After Macri’s Downfall
Argentina's recent elections have set the country's right on the path to defeat. But that won't immediately put the working class back in the driver's seat — much greater mobilization is needed for that.
We Bet the House on Left Populism — and Lost
Four years ago, we celebrated Europe’s left-populist push. Now we have to look seriously at how little was accomplished and what might have been lost.
I Was the Last Communist Premier of East Germany
The opening of the Berlin Wall on this day in 1989 brought the downfall of the East German regime and the appointment of reformer Hans Modrow as head of government. Thirty years on, he speaks to Jacobin about his experiences on that day and in power, and how German reunification went wrong.
“Either We Defend Social Solidarity, or French Society Will Break Down”
This winter France has seen the biggest strike wave in decades, as workers resist planned pension reforms. As Communist MP André Chassaigne told us, the strikers aren’t just opposing Emmanuel Macron’s neoliberal policies — they’re fighting to save the French social model itself.
Jeremy Corbyn Showed the Way. But We Must Learn the Right Lessons.
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party ends this weekend. We need to defend his legacy and carry on his noble democratic-socialist program, while being honest about where and why he fell short.
Tony Benn Spent His Life Fighting for Democracy and Socialism
Today would have been British Labour MP Tony Benn's 95th birthday. We remember his contributions to the struggle for democracy and socialism, a struggle that we must continue today.
The Outrageous Optimism of Jean-Paul Sartre
The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre died forty years ago today. Sartre’s philosophy and political values can still inspire struggles for freedom today.
The Left Must Address a Historic Crisis of Representation
The defeats for Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn point to the Left’s difficulties in overcoming old party machines. Bottom-up labor organizing may sound like an attractive alternative — but it shouldn’t ignore the power of left populism in uniting people outside the workplace.
Marseille’s Conservative Establishment Is Using Crude Anticommunism to Demonize Its Opposition
In Sunday’s mayoral elections, a united slate of left-wingers and Greens is set to win France’s second-largest city for the first time in decades. Faced with this challenge, the conservative establishment has radicalized, accusing the broad left of planning a "Cuban-style putsch" on the streets of Marseille.
Lucio Urtubia, 1931–2020
The anarchist bricklayer Lucio Urtubia made his name robbing banks in order to fund clandestine revolutionaries in Franco’s Spain. He insisted that there was nothing criminal about his expropriations of firms like Citibank — arguing that “he who robs a thief is a thousand times forgiven.”
“There’s No Populist Instruction Manual for How You Nationalize Amazon”
From Podemos in Spain to Bernie Sanders’s bid for the nomination, recent left-populist campaigns inspired widespread hopes only to fall short. But overwhelming the fortresses of neoliberalism demands a long-term strategy — and mass mobilizations that last beyond the excitement of an election campaign.