Beyond the Earthquake, Syrians Need US Sanctions Lifted
The Biden administration has thankfully lifted the sanctions on Syria to provide for earthquake relief. It’s a good first step. The next: lift the sanctions regime entirely.
14659 Articles by: Kendra Strauss
Kendra Strauss is director of the Labour Studies Program and associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University.
Lula Knows Exactly Who His Political Allies Are
Brazilian president and working-class icon Lula da Silva made a major trip to Washington, DC last week. The two political leaders at the top of his meeting list: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.
Investor Firms Are Squeezing Every Penny Out of Senior Housing
In a senior housing complex in Pennsylvania, a Wall Street–backed landlord is hiking rents on an absurd scale. It’s part of a larger trend of real estate investors targeting senior care facilities at the expense of their residents and workers.
In 2021, Larry Summers Won the Inflation Debate. But His Victory Was Transitory.
With price growth trending down over the past year despite a strong labor market, it’s looking more and more like Larry Summers was wrong about inflation after all. It’s time to revisit the great inflation debate of 2021–2022.
Diplomat: Why the Minsk Agreements Failed in Ukraine
The Minsk Agreements were meant to ease conflict in the Donbas, only to be torn to shreds by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A diplomat involved in the Minsk process tells Jacobin why it failed, and what chance diplomacy has of de-escalating the war.
South Africa’s Communists Were Crucial to the Fight Against Apartheid
From its foundation in the 1920s, the South African Communist Party took up the fight against racism as a central part of its political vision. The party’s heroic record in the anti-apartheid movement has now received the historical treatment it deserves.
The Global Exploitation of Congo Must End
Pope Francis’s recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has focused world attention on a region long exploited by outsiders. But it should not require a visit from the pope for the ravages of colonialism and war to be taken seriously.
One Hundred Years of Ousmane Sembène
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. His films — dazzling portraits of Senegalese and French society — represent some of the most brilliant attempts to think about the limits and possibilities of political art.
Workers at an eBay-Owned Company Are Trying to Organize a Union. eBay Is Trying to Bust It.
Workers with TCGPlayer, a trading card game marketplace owned by eBay, filed for a union election in late January. Employees have accused TCGPlayer of illegal union busting since, including unlawful surveillance and captive audience meetings.
Nineteen Eighty-Four Was Written by a Socialist
George Orwell was a self-professed socialist. The Right’s misreadings of his books like Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have less to do with his actual work than with conservatives’ anti-egalitarian agenda.
The Jesus of Tonight’s Super Bowl Ads Can’t Be Found in Right-Wing Churches
During tonight’s Super Bowl, ads funded by pillars of conservative Christianity will promote a compassionate Jesus aligned with young people’s left-wing values. They’re compelling — but those values can’t be found in conservative churches.
The West Is Ignoring the Nightmarish War in Ethiopia
The war in Ethiopia has largely been ignored by the outside world, and information has been hard to come by. But what we know about the conflict is horrific: at least 500,000 civilians have been killed, and 5 million have been displaced.
Johns Hopkins University Graduate Workers Just Won a Union
Last week, graduate workers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore voted to form a union — with 97 percent voting in favor. Jacobin spoke to worker-organizers about how they got there and what the victory means for Hopkins graduate students.
Economists’ Obsession With “Efficiency” Is Just an Endorsement of Greed
The global economy is “efficient” alright: it efficiently funnels wealth to the top while leaving most of humanity behind.
The Edwardian Baroque Anticipated the Architecture of Global Capitalism
A new book shows how the grand designs of Edwardian architects expressed the anxieties and illusions of their time. Imperial confidence in the peaceful integration of the world ran alongside fears of decline and collapse, echoing the dilemmas of our own age.
Pete Buttigieg’s Transportation Department Is Skirting Safety Standards
The recent train derailment in Ohio shows the need for more stringent safety rules for train brakes, especially for trains carrying hazardous materials. Transportation regulators are instead bending to the interests of rail industry lobbyists.
Temple University Administrators Have Declared War on Striking Grad Workers
Unionized graduate students at Temple University are on strike. The school’s administration has responded with unabashedly brutal retaliation, cutting off their health care and tuition remission, in an attempt to crush them.
“Soundbite Economics” Obscures Who’s Causing and Profiting From the Crisis
Capitalism’s apologists are throwing around economic concepts like inflation, recession, labor shortages, and supply chain shortages to justify ripping off consumers, raising rents, and depressing wages. Don’t ask them to define their terms.
Only Socialism Can Put an End to Exploitation
The exploitation of workers is central to the functioning of capitalism. The socialist argument is simple: we can live in a world without such exploitation.
Trader Joe’s Workers in Louisville Just Voted for a Union. We Spoke to One of the Workers.
A third Trader Joe’s store location has just voted to unionize, this one in the notoriously anti-union South. “If a Trader Joe’s in Louisville, Kentucky, can do this,” says an organizer, “any Trader Joe’s across the country can do this.”