Vol 10No 2
SummerWhere Is DSA Going?
The rise of the Democratic Socialists of America over the last decade is one of the most striking developments in American politics. This essay surveys the group’s ascent, arguing both that it has successfully responded to the unique obstacles posed by the US electoral system and that the organization faces daunting challenges in light of its still limited ability to draw in the broadest layers of the working class.
Labor Under Socialism
How might a socialist society realistically fulfill its labor needs? This essay advances a moral framework for answering this question. It argues that, in contrast to alternative, utopian proposals, duly constrained labor markets offer a morally desirable and practically feasible mechanism for solving the labor problem under socialism.
The Necessity of Revolution
The era of class compromise will not return. Any serious democratic socialist politics must pursue a politics of rupture with capitalism.
Woke 1 Wasn’t Just Crazy
Though the reelection of Donald Trump appeared to signal the end of “wokeness,” it remains unclear whether progressives have abandoned the counterproductive assumptions on race and racism that shaped the last decade of left-wing politics and reached an apogee in 2020.
Dr Strangelove Lives On
David Holloway’s Nuclear Weapons: An International History expertly examines the Cold War’s nuclear technologies, strategies, crises, and treaties. This critical assessment highlights the dangerous legacy of nuclear arms and the urgency of activist efforts to confront the renewed threat of nuclear war to the environment and human survival.
How Can Workers Organize Against Capital Today?
John Womack’s labor strategy is about workers finding the capacity to "wound capital to make it yield anything.” But the massive challenge in today’s deindustrialized economy is locating where that leverage actually lies.
New Labour Totally Subordinated Labour to Capital
Why was New Labour “intensely relaxed” about “people getting filthy rich”? The answer lies in a comprehensive analysis and critique of Labourism itself, which the new book Futures of Socialism fails to deliver.
Austerity Is an Antidemocratic Strategy to Boost Capital
Austerity policies have their roots in efforts by economic elites to crush working-class power after WWI and redistribute income upward. To reverse austerity, democratic control over economic policymaking is essential.
How Did the Paris Commune Shape British Culture?
British literary responses to the Paris Commune of 1871 expressed shock and fear about the collapse of the bourgeois social order. But they also registered sympathy with the Communards and their revolutionary aspirations.
Culture Can’t Explain the Arab Revolts
Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprising shows how the Arab revolts empowered democratic citizenship. But a focus on vibrant cultural creativity is no substitute for concrete analysis of political agency and economic structure.
“Settler Colonialism” Can’t Fully Explain Our World
Settler colonialism is often described as a singular, transnational mode of domination. But it’s impossible to understand colonialism without political economy and material interests.