Vol 6 No 2
Summer 2022Post-Work Socialism?
Post-work socialism claims to emancipate us from all cultural and economic pressure to work. But post-work utopias illicitly presuppose the very labor they claim to free us from. Shared-labor socialism offers a better vision of freedom, by facing head-on the problem of necessary labor.
C. L. R. James’s Beyond a Boundary at 60
C. L. R. James’s cricket memoir Beyond a Boundary is often considered one of the greatest studies of cricket’s history and culture ever written. But James’s analysis falls victim to the very mysticism he set out to avoid, expressing deference to the English cricketing establishment and its traditions while failing to go far enough in criticizing their origins.
The Jargon of Decoloniality
Calls to “decolonize” academic production may invoke progressive anti-Eurocentrism, but the theory of decoloniality identified with works by Walter Mignolo only trades in the most objectionable aspects of identity politics. Cloaked in an impenetrable jargon, decoloniality dehistoricizes and culturalizes colonialism, promoting some odious autocracies along the way.
The Two Colombias
The leftist victory in Colombia’s June election breaks with decades of right-wing rule, close alliance with the United States, and politics dominated by Colombian elites. The country’s poor and mostly indigenous and Afro-Colombian regions played a big role, as did the coalitions behind nationwide anti-austerity protests the past few years.
Which Way Forward for Labor?
In response to Herman Rosenfeld, I hold that even while capitalism is an exploitative economic system, capital and labor have some overlapping interests, which provide the basis for a positive class compromise. Where capital is hostile and intransigent, unions should respond in kind, using militant tactics; but conditional cooperation can be used to advance independent union power and the longer-term goals of the working class.
The Janus Face of Public Debt
Public debt embodies both private property and a public good, reciprocity and coercion, economic power and political authority. The history of public debt illuminates its contradictory role in the rise and development of capitalism and brings its hidden politics out into the open.
The Marxism of Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams was a Marxist whose politics were deeply anchored in radical working-class and internationalist traditions. Recent postcolonial critics have accused him of ignoring the realities of empire. Examining his body of work shows this is wrong.
The Fed Is Rescuing Capitalists Again
The Federal Reserve is now perpetually rescuing the American economy. Even when it had to change the formula during the COVID pandemic, its class loyalties were clear: intervene for the benefit of big capital.
Terry Eagleton’s Critical Revolutionary Reading
Britain’s foremost Marxist critic, Terry Eagleton, accounts for the intellectual achievements, as well as the ideological and critical limitations, of a formative strand of British literary humanism.
Capitalism and the Political Economy of the Constitution
An alternative, powerful new account of the Constitution foregrounds democratic politics as a constraint on capital and its forms of domination. Understanding the nature of this domination is essential for overcoming the oligarchical dangers the book bemoans.
The Robot Revolution That Never Came
Automation is an ideology that obscures the grim reality of how businesses reshape workplaces — but power and politics play a key role in determining the degradation or dignity of work. The real challenge is to turn every job into a dignified job.
The Spirit of Churchill: Elitism and British Empire
The Winston Churchill myth industry ignores the historical record. The man remembered for World War II leadership was an imperialist, a racist, and above all else committed to upholding class hierarchy.