The Many Farewells to the Working Class
For decades, the parties of labor have been slowly replaced by the parties of the educated. A Left that doesn’t acknowledge this as a problem has already been defeated.
255 Article(s) by: David Broder
David Broder is Jacobin’s Europe editor and a historian of French and Italian communism.
How Cuba’s Communists Survived the Fall of the Soviet Union
The fall of the USSR in 1991 left Cuba mired in economic crisis and increasingly vulnerable to hostility from Washington. For the revolution to survive, it had to draw on its own domestic legitimacy — including its independence from the Soviet model.
Julius Deutsch, an Anti-Fascist Who Organized Workers on the Sports Field
Austrian socialist Julius Deutsch was a key figure in Red Vienna’s workers’ sports clubs. Founder of the Schutzbund workers’ militia, Deutsch and his comrades used the class pride built on the sports field to mobilize against rising fascism.
France’s Mounting Authoritarianism Is Paving the Way for Fascism
Soldiers’ and police unions’ calls for action to save France from chaos show how fascist ideas have spread within the state. For decades, neoliberal governments have increased these repressive bodies’ powers — and today, they’re preparing the ground for a Le Pen presidency.
The Last Thing Labour Needs Is a “Progressive Alliance”
The Liberal Democrats’ by-election victory in a seat long held by the Tories has fed talk of an electoral pact between Labour and the Lib Dems. But Labour needs to be rebuilt as a party of the working class — not just another brand of vaguely defined progressives.
Bringing Antonio Gramsci Back to Turin
Turin was once Italian labor’s most famous heartland, inspiring a young Antonio Gramsci to become a Communist. Today, Gramsci scholar Angelo D’Orsi is bidding to win the mayor’s office — by mobilizing the working-class voters that the neoliberalized center-left abandoned.
Jeremy Corbyn Tells Jacobin: Israel Must End the Siege of Gaza
Former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke to Jacobin about the fight for a Palestine free from occupation and why the Biden administration needs to end its military support for Israel.
Karl Marx Saw Signs of the Socialist Future in the Paris Commune
Today marks 150 years since the start of the Bloody Week, when the French army drowned the Paris Commune in blood. For Karl Marx, the Paris revolution was the greatest working-class uprising in his lifetime — and a model for what socialism might look like.
Israeli Airstrikes Killed My Pregnant Cousin and Her Daughter
Nour Alshaer is a Palestinian student living in the besieged Gaza Strip. She told Jacobin about the desperate conditions in Gaza and how Israeli airstrikes have killed several of her loved ones.
Italy’s Government Is Outsourcing Its Economic Strategy To Private Management Consultants McKinsey
Last month, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi formed a new government whose top ministries were handed to unelected technocrats. Now his “government of experts” has outsourced its economic plan to private management consultants McKinsey — without voters having ever had any say in the matter.
Italy’s “National Unity” Government Is the Cutting Edge of Post-Democratic Governance
Mario Draghi’s new Italian government has been hailed for uniting all political forces from the center-left to the hard-right Lega. Yet the adulation of the former European Central Bank chief as a “national savior” continues a trend elevating technocratic economic decisions above democratic choice — and it’s working-class Italians who’ll suffer.
The Italian Left’s Long Divorce from the Working Class
In postwar decades, Italy boasted the West’s largest communist party, yet by the mid-1970s, its promise of social transformation had been all but abandoned. Swallowing the basics of neoliberal economics, the Left became increasingly distant from workers’ material interests — with disastrous results.
How the Italian Communists Fought the Rise of Fascism
Founded 100 years ago today, the Italian Communist Party immediately faced a violent wave of repression, killing hundreds of militants. As policemen, business elites, and even liberal politicians swung behind Benito Mussolini, no party resisted the Fascist threat more than the Communists.
Why Matteo Renzi Is Sinking Italy’s Government Even as the Pandemic Rages
Matteo Renzi’s move to split Italy’s center-left government is a distraction from its COVID-19 response — and could even force Italians back to the polls. But what’s really at stake is the shape of its post-crisis recovery, as neoliberal technocrats again threaten to return to office.
Why Centrists Love Blaming Jeremy Corbyn for Everything (Including the Capitol Riot)
As far-right rioters rampaged through Congress, Britain’s centrist commentariat absurdly insisted that Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters are equally dangerous. Such allegations of left-wing extremism evoke the crudest Red Scare tactics — and whitewash the conservatives who have been enabling Trump for years.
Jeremy Corbyn: Why I’m Launching a Project for Peace and Justice
Today, Jeremy Corbyn is launching a global Project for Peace and Justice to take forward the causes he championed as Labour leader. He told Jacobin about his hopes for the initiative — and why he refuses to be cowed by the attacks he has endured.
Diego Maradona Loved Naples — And It Loved Him Back
In the working-class districts of Naples, Diego Maradona was more than their local team’s star player. He was a son of the slums who wanted to “put six goals past the boss” — and stood up for the dignity of their city.
Happy Birthday, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was born 200 years ago today. We should thank him for helping out his friend Karl Marx — but also for the critique of capitalism he produced in his own right.
How Postwar West Germany Used Support for Israel to Whitewash Its Image
In 1952, West Germany paid reparations to Israel — not as compensation to Holocaust survivors, but in the form of supplies to the Israeli state. Coming at the same time as denazification reached its end, the move had little to do with moral atonement, and everything to do with whitewashing West Germany’s international image.
Poland’s Massive Pro-Choice Protests Can Change the Whole Political Agenda
In recent days, Poland has seen its biggest protests in decades, with strikes and demonstrations against the harshened abortion ban. As MP Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk tells Jacobin, the movement is a lightning rod for frustrations at the country’s hard-right government — and can finally put women’s hardships at the center of the political agenda.