Articles

Freelance Work Has Always Been Precarious, Not Aspirational. Coronavirus Has Made That Clear.

With the government’s most recent measure to support self-employed workers leaving many with no support at all, the dangerous and uncertain nature of freelance work has been exposed, writes Sophie McKay.

Opinion: The Corona-Crisis Reveals There Is No Such Thing As Low-Skilled Labour

The coronavirus pandemic has shown that our lives are in fact precariously balanced on the supposedly low-skilled labour of others - a vast majority of them women. This ugly revelation is a chance to learn and reimagine the way we value work, writes Phil Jones.

‘We Want a Rent Strike Now’: the People Poised to Take on Their Landlords

In the absence of government-backed rent relief or rent suspensions, people across the country are unable to pay their rent. Sophie Hemery speaks to some of the people ready to go on rent strike.

Beyond Bernie: the Democratic Socialists of America Are Organising for the Bigger Picture

For the Democratic Socialists of America, the project to change the horizons of American politics does not begin and end with the presidential race. The organisation's strength lies in its ability to organise at both an electoral and grassroots level, writes Eleanor Salter.

Opinion: Labour Can Only Win by Building on the Corbyn Era, Not Destroying It

Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour leadership twice, despite a war waged against him from within the party and by the media. He won for a reason, writes Aaron Bastani; if the next Labour leader wants to become prime minister they must acknowledge this, and build on his legacy, not destroy it.

Opinion: By Letting Small Businesses Fail, the State Is Handing Power to Corporate Giants

The world’s biggest businesses will benefit from the coronavirus crisis as they devour the carcasses of their smaller rivals, writes Grace Blakeley. But this is not just the nature of the market, it comes down to who the government chooses to help and who it chooses to abandon.

Opinion: Coronavirus Has Shown That Care Services Are Vital. Now Let’s Build a State That Cares

Moments of rupture provide us with a critical opportunity to imagine and create a different world, write Lynne Segal and Catherine Rottenberg. If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything so far, it is that we are in urgent need of a politics that puts care front and centre.

Opinion: The Covid Financial Crisis Will Require a Much Stronger Response Than the Last Crisis

The coronavirus pandemic is bringing with it a financial crisis on a scale far beyond the crisis of 2008, writes James Meadway, and weathering it requires stronger action than anything we've seen in recent history.

Opinion: More People Won’t Die Because of a Recession Than Because of Coronavirus

The idea that an economic recession would necessarily lead to more deaths than Covid-19, even if no measures are taken to slow the spread, isn’t just wrong - it’s ideological, writes Aaron Bastani.

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Services Are Normalising Debt for a Generation Who Might Never Have Mortgages

In seeking new ways to repackage debt and sell it to millennials and Gen Zers - who are now not only disenfranchised from, but also increasingly disinterested in, the traditional debt traps of home-ownership and higher education - services like Klarna have emerged as the latest financial instrument to make the accumulation of debt feel not just normal, but desirable, writes Jack Palfrey.

Report: Out of Work and Unsupported, Sex Workers Struggle to Cope With the Coronavirus Crisis

Workers who are already marginalised, stigmatised and sometimes criminalised are the most vulnerable to disasters. While sex workers are organising to support each other through the Covid-19 pandemic, campaigners are demanding the government does more to help them. Sophie Hemery reports.

Report: Cleaners Are Having to Fight for Their Own Protection in the Fight Against Covid-19

Poorly equipped, lumped with poor working conditions and facing ever-greater occupational dangers, cleaners are simultaneously at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus and among those who stand to be worst affected by its social consequences, writes Joe Hayns.

Opinion: From Geopolitics to High Streets, Covid-19 Will Change Everything. Here’s Why.

When Covid-19 is eventually defeated the whole world will be very different. In its wake we must create a collective sense of purpose, writes Aaron Bastani, a shared desire to build something better than what came before.

Opinion: Undocumented Migrants Must Be Given Access to Healthcare and Welfare

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and welfare provision must be made available to everyone, regardless of their immigration status, argues Benjamin Morgan.

Opinion: Coronavirus Has Destroyed the NHS Internal Market Overnight, Proving That It Never Worked

Covid-19 has forced the government to make drastic changes to the fundamental structure of the NHS as, under pressure to meet the demands of a pandemic, the internal market has fallen apart overnight, writes junior doctor Jo Sutton-Klein. We must demand that changes made now stay in place after the coronavirus crisis.

Opinion: Coronavirus Will Expose the Vast Inequality Between the Global North and South

The coronavirus pandemic has shown that rich countries can spend without limit to meet the needs of their populations. But poorer, less powerful countries quite literally can't afford to play by those rules, argues Grace Blakeley.

Report: Hundreds of Detainees Have Been Released, but the Government Still Won’t Shut Detention Centres Down

Around 350 people are believed to have been released from UK detention centres over the past fortnight, following a push by campaign groups to protect them from Covid-19. But the High Court has rejected a bid to have the centres shut entirely, leaving at least 700 detainees in danger. Natalie Leal reports.

Eighteen Books to Read on Lockdown

From Antigone to afrofuturism, Eleanor Penny, Ash Sarkar, James Butler and Aaron Bastani's recommended reads to help you make the most of lockdown.