It’s the most important program combating food insecurity in the United States – and it originates from aid to the agricultural and food processing industries, not poverty alleviation. Christopher Bosso argues that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — formerly known as food stamps — has survived for almost sixty years, against those would … Continued
The pandemic highlighted the vital importance of care work—whether childcare, nursing home care, medical care or schooling – and the struggles many people face to get sufficient care. Would more public investment solve the crisis? Historian Premilla Nadasen argues that the problem lies with contemporary capitalism itself, as care has become an enormous arena for … Continued
The modern nation-state has been premised on the violent creation of permanent minorities ruled over by ethnic or religious majorities, argues Mahmood Mamdani. The acclaimed scholar of colonialism and anti-colonialism reflects on the United States, Nazi Germany, South Africa, and Israel — settler-colonial societies built on internment and ethnic cleansing. He calls for a decolonialism … Continued
State-ownership of the means of production and a planned economy appear to be the hallmarks of Marxist thought, along with the notion that revolution necessitates passing through socialist and communist stages. But, as Peter Hudis points out, these ideas don’t originate with Marx. He discusses his Critique of the Gotha Program, in which Marx most … Continued
What happens to survivors of violence — often perpetrated by intimates — who defend themselves against their attackers? According to legal scholar Leigh Goodmark, it often depends on whether those survivors look suitably victim-like. She discusses the circumstances that frequently lead to the criminalization of survivors of violence –- and makes the case for the … Continued
Utopias aren’t unique to the left. The right has labored in myriad ways for a world without fetters on private property. In one striking case, a character called Michael Oliver, with a motley group of associates ranging from English lords to soldiers of fortune, successively attempted to set up a capitalist paradise in the South … Continued
Over the past half century, the US economy has undergone a profound change: wealth has been concentrated in the hands of a few, inequality has skyrocketed, and insecurity has reigned. And yet it’s a story mainly downplayed by mainstream pundits and the media. Noam Chomsky, arguably the most important public intellectual in the world, says … Continued
Rising rents, rising food prices, rising gas prices — the price of basic necessities has been going dramatically up. Pundits are wringing their hands, worrying about a return to the tumultuous 1970s, while the Federal Reserve has begun a series of interest rate hikes designed to slow the economy down, and potentially put people out … Continued
In the aftermath of World War Two, as the United States consolidated its position as a global superpower, it was confronted with significant challenges from below and shifting political terrain — anti-colonial struggles around the world and civil rights struggles domestically. To handle both, the U.S state turned to the police, who were sent overseas … Continued
Open any world history book and you’ll read that the Neolithic Revolution was a turning point for humanity, when hunter gatherers gave up roving in small egalitarian groups and settled down to farm. Out of that, civilization was born, with all the benefits and ills connected to it: the rise of cities, the emergence of … Continued
