Social Democracy at Death’s Door
The European elections delivered a crushing blow to the German Social Democrats. Only a miracle can save them now.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
Maggie and the Miners
Though he's largely forgotten, Arthur Scargill was an ardent foe of Thatcherism and a champion of militant trade unionism.
The Economic, Political, and Cultural History of Menswear
Menswear expert Derek Guy talks to Jacobin about where Western men’s clothing traditions came from, how they have evolved, and how they're being continually reinterpreted.
Teacher and Pennsylvania State Senate Candidate Paul Prescod: “The Rich Need to Start Paying”
Paul Prescod is a socialist, teacher, and longtime Jacobin contributor who is running for Pennsylvania state senate. In an interview, Prescod discusses his roots in labor, an agenda for Pennsylvania left elected officials, and why he plans to be an “organizer-in-chief.”
The Making of the American Police State
How did we end up with millions behind bars and police armed like soldiers?
Liberal Dominance of Cultural Institutions Hurt the Left
A new book, Polarized by Degrees, argues that college-educated voters have come to dominate the Democratic Party and cultural institutions while Americans without a college degree feel increasingly alienated by the party’s technocratic worldview.
Stanley Aronowitz Knew That Freedom Begins Where Work Ends
Stanley Aronowitz died this week at 88. He hated work, loved life, and brought his overflowing, exuberant approach to social problems to picket lines, classrooms, and vacation. A fighting left needs more people like him.
The Ballot and the Break
Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party, the most successful labor party in US history, is rich in lessons for challenging the two-party system.
Let’s Turn Labour Back to Industry
Labour’s election defeat reflected problems of messaging and strategy, but also a much deeper lack of organizational roots. Faced with a huge Tory majority, Labour MPs should use their platform to help rebuild our movement at its historic source — the workplace itself.
Remembering Marxist Historian and Activist E. P. Thompson
This week marked the 100th birthday of E. P. Thompson, the pioneer of “history from below” and activist against war and exploitation. At a rally for Palestine that day, Jeremy Corbyn and other speakers reflected on Thompson’s life and legacy.
Studying Logistics
As the economy develops around a sprawling logistics industry, organizing workers in these sectors will be vital.
Amazon Workers’ Sci-Fi Writing Is Imagining a World After Amazon
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos often talks about humanity starting again on other planets. But a new project funding Amazon workers’ sci-fi writing is imagining how life could be different right here on Earth, in a world without corporate overlords like Bezos.
From Anti-Politics to Authoritarian Restoration in Brazil
Two years on from his election, the anti-political wave that Jair Bolsonaro rode to office appears to have ebbed. In its place we are seeing a restoration of the reactionary forces that have ruled the country for most of its history.
Barbara Ehrenreich Was an Unabashed Socialist
The writer Barbara Ehrenreich, who died earlier this month, believed in a humanistic Marxism. Nowhere was this conviction more on display than in her writings on the sexism and cruelty of America’s for-profit health care system.
The Social Justice Unionism of Wendell Young III
The Philadelphia union leader Wendell Young III straddled the worlds of the labor movement born out of the New Deal and the social movements of the New Left. He believed that uniting these two worlds in struggle could transform the United States.
Remaking the South African Left
A revived South African trade union movement could challenge the ANC from its left.
Mario Tronti and the Crisis of Italian Workerism
Italian workerism had a big influence on the 1960s left, highlighting the role of workers’ struggles in the evolution of capitalism. As one of its key thinkers, Mario Tronti had to make sense of a world where those struggles went into sharp decline.
Why the Starbucks Union Drive Matters for All Workers
Starbucks workers are channeling the frustration shared by millions of food service workers into a unionization drive. It’s the most exciting new organizing campaign in the United States.
“Now Is a Good Time for Working People to Get Involved in Politics”
Jacobin spoke with Lili Baiman, a democratic socialist running for Columbus, Ohio city council. She wants to support the city’s labor movement and strengthen tenants’ rights. Socialism, for her, “means power and equality.”
Daniel Bensaïd Breathed New Life Into Marxism for the 21st Century
The French Marxist thinker Daniel Bensaïd grappled with the history of socialist defeats to supply us with a road map for the present. The result was a brilliant reformulation of Marxism that can guide today’s left-wing movements in their struggles.