The Canton Speech
Today in 1918, Eugene V. Debs delivered the speech that landed him in jail. We reprint it here in full.
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Trotsky’s New York
Leon Trotsky's brief 1917 stay in New York City left a mark on the American socialist movement.
Yes, Ukraine Is a “Real Country”
The borders of Ukraine are no more arbitrary than those of Poland, Greece, Italy, or Germany.
The Fight for Italian Reunification Inspired the International Left
The first meeting of the Italian parliament in Rome, 150 years ago today, was a symbolic show of national reunification. Yet the battle against foreign domination had raised sharply contrasting ideas of the future Italy — leaving a lasting impact on socialists worldwide.
Otto Bauer’s Theory of Nationalism Is One of Marxism’s Lost Treasures
Critics of Marxism say it cannot explain why nationalism is such a powerful force in the modern world. But the Austrian socialist thinker Otto Bauer developed a sophisticated, illuminating theory of nationalism in the 1900s that is ripe for rediscovery today.
RIP Alan Arkin, Hollywood’s Last Brilliant Mensch
Actor, director, musician, and certified New York “red diaper baby” Alan Arkin (1934–2023) was the rare Hollywood talent whose onscreen genius grew out of his own innate warmth and kindness.
Zeman, Again
Czech president Miloš Zeman’s opponents tried to build a majority among the people while sneering at them.
New York’s Socialist Bench Just Got Even Bigger
Democratic Socialists of America now boasts eight representatives in New York’s state government and an ambitious legislative agenda focused on working-class issues like childcare, transit, and housing.
Forty Years Ago, a Million People Descended on New York’s Central Park to Demand Peace
Forty years ago this week, Michael Myerson was one of the organizers for the largest rally in American history against nuclear weapons. The real highlight for him, though, was getting to tell Mayor Ed Koch to go f— himself.
Life in the Century’s Midnight
On International Holocaust Memorial Day we should remember the resistance that organized itself in Nazi death camps.
Why the Three Internationals Couldn’t Agree
On April 2, 1922, reformists and revolutionaries from three rival internationals met in Berlin in a bid to agree to a common program. Ending in failure, it was the last time for decades that Communists and Social Democrats would meet as ostensible comrades.
Eric Hobsbawm on How Workers Made May Day Theirs
The late Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm recounts the origins of International Workers' Day. "The priests have their festivals," announced a 1891 May Day broadsheet, "the Moderates have their festivals. The First of May is the Festival of the workers of the entire world."
Hobsbawm’s Long Century
The historian Eric Hobsbawm would have turned 100 today. During his life, he never lost faith that the future belonged to socialism.
Once Jailed for His Beliefs, Socialist Max Zirngast Now Holds Public Office
Jacobin contributor Max Zirngast, who was imprisoned in Turkey for his left-wing political writing, has now been elected to the municipal council of his home city of Graz, along with several other Communist Party of Austria members.
The Revolutions of 1848 Should Be a Historical Touchstone for Socialists Today
Christopher Clark’s Revolutionary Spring is a gripping account of Europe’s 1848 revolutions. The questions raised by those movements and their ultimate defeat are still vitally important for socialist politics in our own time.
Seattle, “the Soviet of Washington”
Decades before Amazon dominated the city, Seattle was the fiery site of labor unrest, radical action — and the US's only true general strike.
The Left Has a Long, Proud Tradition of Opposing War
There’s a long and rich tradition of the Left’s opposition to militarism that dates back to the First International. It’s an excellent resource for understanding the origins of war under capitalism and helping leftists maintain our clear opposition to it.
Will a Socialist Lead Austria’s Social Democrats Again?
Austria’s Social Democrats are welcoming a wave of new members, after left-winger Andreas Babler announced his candidacy to become party leader. His declared goal: to make the Social Democrats a workers’ party again.
When Orbán Was a Liberal
Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party began life as a liberal opposition to Hungary’s Soviet-backed regime. But far from waging a generic fight for freedom, Orbán and his crony capitalist allies turned Hungary into the laboratory for a new far right.
In Graz, Austria, Communists Have Built a Red Fortress
In Graz, Austria’s second-largest city, Communists have ridden a wave of working-class discontent to become the main challenger to the ruling conservatives.