What Is a “Proletarian” Anyway?
With the rise of industrial capitalism and the workers’ movement it created, we created new words to explain a confounding new world.
17 Articles by: Anton Jäger
Anton Jäger is is a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge, working on the history of populism in the United States. Together with Daniel Zamora, he is currently working on an intellectual history of basic income.
Trumpism After Trump
Don’t count right-wing populism out. While technocrats have seen their fortunes rise under lockdown, the sense of national decline and disarray that first brought leaders like Donald Trump to power still has a bright future.
The Prophet of Inequality
Whatever its shortcomings, Thomas Piketty’s latest book, Capital and Ideology, is a serious attempt to map our social world without resorting to easy abstractions.
Liberalism Is as Bad as the Economist Makes It Sound
Liberalism is often presented as a loose set of principles like reason, freedom, and the rule of law. But over almost two centuries, the Economist has provided a window into the dominant strand of liberalism in action — with imperial conquest and undemocratic regimes defended in the name of upholding “free trade.”
Hopeful Altruism Is No Substitute for Radical Politics
Rutger Bregman made a name for himself by dressing down Tucker Carlson and calling out the ultrarich at Davos. But his new book is closer to a hopeful self-help guide than a manifesto for radical political change.
Corbyn Lost. But Bernie Can Win.
The Bernie movement can win precisely because we’re learning from the mistakes of Corbynism, not to mention our own.
We Bet the House on Left Populism — and Lost
Four years ago, we celebrated Europe’s left-populist push. Now we have to look seriously at how little was accomplished and what might have been lost.
From Populism to Socialism and Back
Socialists and populists have found plenty to disagree about over the years, from private property to trust-busting. But their shared commitment to fighting corporate power often brought them together — and it should today, too.
“Responsible Conservatives” Won’t Save Us From Fascism
History shows that when working-class strength threatens the status quo, even moderate conservatives won’t balk at making common cause with fascists.
Is Left Populism the Solution?
Left populism is the new idiom of radical politics worldwide. It emerged as the answer to the problem of a weak and disorganized working class — but despite its electoral successes, that class remains weak and disorganized.
The Cunning of Unreason
Critics of populism lament the rise of “emotion-driven” politics. But instead of asking why politics has become so “irrational,” we should ask why people are so angry in the first place.
Laboring Under an Illusion
“Post-work” Marxism aims to liberate us from the coercion of wage labor. But without a program for reorganizing production, it can only return us to the tyranny of the market.
The Guardian’s Populism Panic
Britain’s leading liberal newspaper has set out on a mission to define and defeat “populism.” It has not gone well.
Why “Post-Work” Doesn’t Work
Many on today’s Left seek to abolish work. But the goal of socialism is to transform it.
On the Front Lines of the Populism Wars
Left populism might be working in practice — but does it work in theory? A review of Chantal Mouffe’s latest salvo in the “populism wars.”
21st Century Americanism
Populist symbolism can be powerful — but we can’t drop the old language of class.
The Myth of “Populism”
It’s the transatlantic commentariat’s favorite political put-down. It’s also historically illiterate.