Rumors of the Death of the Working Class Are Highly Exaggerated
There is no “end of the working class.”
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.
Why Would Netflix Bury a Film as Wonderfully Imaginative as Wendell & Wild?
Wendell & Wild is gorgeous, daringly creative, and stunning to watch. Yet Netflix has put almost no effort or resources into promoting the film.
Denmark’s Left Has Failed to Make the Green Transition Its Trademark Issue
Denmark’s thriving green energy industry ought to provide the Left with an ideal organizing opportunity. Yet this week’s election showed that it has failed to connect the green transition with a program for jobs and investment.
Neoliberal Education Reform Is Killing Public Schools — and It’s on the Ballot Nationwide
New research finds that market-style education reforms, like those pioneered in Wisconsin decades ago, have devastating consequences for students. This election, Wisconsin and the rest of the nation must choose whether to plow ahead or reverse course.
Republicans Are Planning an All-Out Assault on the Working Class If They Win Next Week
Draconian spending cuts, attacks on labor organizing, stoking war with China, and speeding up climate disaster — these are just some of the things Republicans are planning if they win big on Tuesday.
In Ron DeSantis’s Florida, Insurers Are Making Millions While Policyholders Languish
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has received major campaign support from the insurance industry. No wonder — under his watch, legislation has made it harder for policyholders to sue exploitative insurance companies in the climate change–ravaged state.
Tim Ryan Is Testing the Limits of Workerist Liberalism
Tim Ryan’s nostalgia-laced fight to recapture postindustrial Ohio for the Democrats offers a glimpse at one possible future for the party in an era of cultural polarization and a rising China. But it’s not a future anyone should feel excited about.
To Win Reelection, Keith Ellison Has to Survive the Black Lives Matter Backlash
Minnesota is still living in the long shadow of George Floyd’s murder, the uprising it sparked, and the backlash that followed. Keith Ellison’s reelection bid for the state’s attorney general is playing out in that shadow.
The Entire World, Yet Again, Is Demanding an End to the US Blockade of Cuba
Every year, nearly the entire globe condemns the US embargo against Cuba as a human rights disaster at the UN General Assembly. And every year, the US government ignores the international community’s pleas.
The GOP Is Successfully Diversifying Right-Wing Politics
This year’s GOP congressional candidates are more racially diverse than ever, and the party is making worrisome inroads among voters of color. Democrats have never understood that without a substantive appeal to voters of color, those voters may leave them.
In Australia, a Republic Is Back on the Agenda
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Australia is once again considering the republican question. For a country that saw its last reforming prime minister thrown out of office by the queen’s representative, breaking with the royal family is a necessary task.
A Pro-Israel Super PAC Is Spending Big to Defeat Summer Lee in Pennsylvania
Progressive Summer Lee is the Democratic nominee in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. A pro-Israel super PAC has spent millions to defeat her, and she says it’s because she poses “a threat to corporate interests and to corporate power.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford Is Using the Needs of Students to Justify Attacking Labor Rights
Ontario premier Doug Ford’s conservative government and its allies are using fear of school disruption to impose a contract on education workers. But the best way to support education and prevent disruptions is by paying education workers properly.
Big Banks Are Buying Up the Midterms
Through front groups like “Friends of Traditional Banking,” banks are playing a key role in the midterms, funding candidates who will slash regulations and preserve predatory banking practices.
Neoliberals Oppose Market Intervention — Unless the Market Is Screwing US Corporations
In response to OPEC+’s decision to cut oil production to protect profits, the Biden administration is proposing market intervention. But when American oil companies acted similarly earlier this year, the White House was fine with it.
Big Tech’s Algorithms Are Built With Invisible Labor
Don’t let the shiny products and ping-pong tables at work fool you: tech platforms are just as reliant on a wretched, toiling workforce as any other company under capitalism.
Big Oil’s Price Gouging Is Pulling in Big Profits
As high gas prices continue to affect working Americans and to be a key factor in the upcoming midterm elections, three of the biggest oil and gas companies posted more than $40 billion in quarterly profits this week.
The Radical Imagination of Mike Davis
There was nothing mechanical or deterministic about the Marxism of Mike Davis, writes labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein.
Ontario’s Right-Wing Government Is Launching a Draconian Attack on Workers’ Rights
Canadian workers have a constitutional right to strike. Conservative Ontario premier Doug Ford is blatantly trying to violate that right for the province’s education workers.
The Democrats Will Probably Lose the Midterms, Because Our Society Is Falling Apart
The Democrats are too beholden to the rich, and they face structural obstacles that are too daunting, to address the profound sense of social collapse that afflicts the US today. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.