Mining for Red Gold
Campagne in Lotta
Workers in Italy's tomato industry are organising against exploitation that local government has continually failed to tackle.
Labouring Through Birth and Death
Jenny Nelson
Birth and death both demand complex, intensive care work; of the sort dismissed by capitalism and silenced by societal taboos. In this week's Long Read, Jenny Nelson explores the labour of the beginning and end of life.
Owen Smith is Labour’s Real Disaster Candidate
Lewis G. Parker
The challenger has a policy in his back pocket that would mean millions of people never vote Labour ever again. Why is nobody talking about it?
‘We are socialists, they are social democrats’: An Interview with Austria’s Socialist Youth
James McAsh
Julia Herr, chair of Socialist Youth Austria, spoke to us about socialism, the rise of the far-right Freedom party and the crisis of social democracy.
‘We build a wall around our sanctuaries’: Queerness and Precarity
Joni Pitt (Cohen) & Sophie Monk
Feminists have identified that paid work depends on unpaid female labour performed within the household. But what happens queer folk; those denied access to the traditional household unit, forced to find other ways to support themselves? Joni Pitt (Cohen) and Sophie Monk explore the idea that, in some ways, queerness is precarity.
#BernieOrBust? Against the Politics of Lesser Evilism
Alex Richardson-Price
After the collapse of Sanders' presidential campaign, US radicals are left with limited options at the ballot box. Should they vote for the lesser of two evils, or try to forge a third way?
Corbynism and the Corporation: BBC Bias and the Case for Media Transformation
Tom Mills
The BBC's treatment of Corbyn has attracted claims of 'bias' which are so far backed up by research findings. But bias at the Beeb needs to be understood in the context of an ongoing political struggle.
What’s the Point of Referendums?
Alice McCool
Much of the EU debate unquestioningly assumed the received wisdom that referendums are democratising, offering us the chance to "take back control". Alice McCool examines the flaws of this limited vision of the democratic process.
Campesinos Against Climate Change: The Fight for Economic Justice in Colombia
Milo Phillips
In the second of our features on social justice movements in Colombia, Milo Phillips reports on how climate change and neoliberal economic reforms have endangered the livelihoods of farmers - and how they are fighting back.
Work As Obedience: Historical Reflections for a Post-Work Future
James Fisher
Our relationship to work is a fractious one: whilst politicians vindicate 'hard working families', some social theorists dream of a ‘post-work’ future. James Fisher takes a look back at the evolution of the 'work ethic', to see what insights it can provide into. how our society organises work – and how those structures might be overcome.
Redeveloped into Fuel Poverty: The Story of Myatts Field North.
Fanny Malinen
The 'redevelopment' of the Myatts Field North estate in Lambeth, South London has lead to the effective eviction of many residents - whilst those who remain face worsening conditions and fuel poverty. It stands in grim testimony to the failures of PFI schemes.
Democracy Suspended: What Really Happened at the Brighton Labour AGM?
John Medhurst
Following an alleged 'spitting incident' at a recent AGM, Labour's biggest constituency party has been suspended and its branch executive election annulled.
Take Back the City: The Disillusioned Londoners Calling for Radical Democracy.
Emma Snaith
Take Back the City proposes a radically different vision of political organising. In a city riven with social divisions and worsening living conditions, can it hope to achieve change for ordinary Londoners?
Breaking Up with Monogamy: A Political Project
Brigitte Vasallo
After acts of infidelity, the fingers of blame point to everything other than monogamy: one of the only social contracts that seems to remain untouchable. Brigitte Vasallo encourages us to question this pact that, she argues, reproduces the logic of capital in the way we love one another.
The Problems of Podemos
Matt Myers
Unidos Podemos, the left-wing coalition party, came in a disappointing third place in the most recent Spanish elections. After polling well, why did the party fail to capture the popular vote? And what lessons can left-wing electoral projects draw from this?
How Did We Get Here? The EU Referendum and the Crises of Union
Joseph Leigh
Sunday Long Read: Britain now heads into a period of unprecedented turbulence. This was not supposed to happen. What does the result suggest about the state of UK democracy? And what strategic challenges does it present to the left?
On the Frontlines of Neoliberalism: Resource Extraction and Popular Resistance in Colombia
Milo Phillips
Colombia's programme of neoliberal reforms is wreaking social and environmental havoc, channeling the profits from the country's natural resources into the coffers of private companies. A diverse coalition of residents, activists and unionists is fighting back, in defiance of the state's violent attempts to silence them.
The Fantastic Corruption of the Broadcasting British Class
Steve Rushton
The BBC is often lauded as a beacon of impartial reporting. But this weekend, as Queen Elizabeth's birthday celebrations dominate its reporting, it's worth delving into organisation's deep structural and personal links to the UK's corrupt political elite.