The coronavirus has laid bare the divisions and inequalities of our society. It’s also exposed the stark differences in possible approaches to the pandemic. Radical scholar Alexis Shotwell argues that we need to frame our fight as one for collective care, rather than containment and control. She discusses solidarity and the lessons of the HIV/AIDS … Continued
What do college athletes, prison laborers, welfare recipients, and graduate students in the sciences have in common? According to sociologist Erin Hatton, they’re all workers who face a particular form of coercion. She discusses what these workers’ circumstances tell us about work under contemporary capitalism. She’ll also consider the situation of prisoners pressured into dangerous … Continued
Two historic global economic contractions almost within a decade of each other would have been hard to fathom, if we weren’t living through them. Marxist geographer Richard Walker examines the shape of the United States and world economies during the coronavirus. He also discusses the effects of the crisis on the fossil fuel industry and … Continued
Now that Bernie Sanders is out of the race, and we’re faced with the choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have the prospects for an electoral road to social democracy been dashed? Jacobin’s Meagan Day and Micah Uetricht discuss how Sanders changed the terrain of U.S. politics. They argue that his defeat — rather … Continued
Many in the U.S. are despairing over the Trump administration’s inaction and fumbling in the face of the pandemic But political scientist Alex Gourevitch cautions that we should be careful what we wish for. He discusses the imposition of authoritarian measures around the world, treating democracy as a luxury in the time of coronavirus. Resources: … Continued
There are many ways that the crisis brought about by the coronavirus is exceptional. But as Peter Linebaugh reminds us, pandemics throughout history have been met both by attempts by elites to extend their domination and the people’s attempts to resist while surviving. The noted historian weighs in plagues, from antiquity to Covid 19. Resources: … Continued
How can we manage to think about, and move toward, a better world in the bleakest of times? Argentinean critical theorist Ana Cecelia Dinerstein talks about capitalism, the state, and our own collective power. She also discusses the tradition of Open Marxism and why we should be skeptical of a universal basic income, which has … Continued
These are anxious times for all of us, but even more so for those whose labor is deemed essential during a pandemic: delivery drivers, grocery workers, those working in Amazon warehouses, and of course health care workers. Labor Notes writer Chris Brooks discusses the challenge for labor under these unprecedented circumstances — and how we … Continued
While entrepreneurship figures into most histories of the US, the centrality of capitalism and class struggle tend to be missing. Hence as a population, we often have no idea about the enormous conflicts that have taken place in this country. Historian Steve Fraser discusses the glaring absences in histories of the US without class struggle. … Continued
Pandemics and other public health crises often require exceptional measures — some of them voluntary and some imposed from above. Historical geographer Graham Mooney reflects on the history of measures like isolation and quarantines — as well as elite indifference to the plight of the poor and working classes during infectious disease outbreaks. Resources: Graham … Continued
