Inequality Is Bad for Your Health
As Britain emerges from lockdown, the government is projecting an image of optimism – but inequality was at crisis levels long before Covid-10 and poverty can be as bad for public health as any pandemic.
3625 Articles by:
Ellie Whittaker
Ellie Woolstencroft is an activist with Labour for a Green New Deal.
Capitalism’s Covid Recovery Will Deepen Social Inequality
Across the West, governments are plotting pandemic recoveries which will enrich asset-owners and squeeze workers – it’s time to build coalitions that can fight back against the next phase of capitalist inequality.
The Trawler and the Seagulls
‘Inhuman Resources,’ starring Eric Cantona, is an improbable thriller about a worker thrown on the scrapheap who becomes a heroic supervillain – a story which resonates with populist insurgencies of right and left.
How Blairism Failed the Working Class
Despite pursuing a number of redistributive policies, Blair’s Labour government left the fundamental architecture of Thatcher’s economy in place – and failed to break the cycle of deepening inequality.
When Hobsbawm Went Jazz
The British left of the 1950s eschewed modern jazz in favour of folk and trad – but Eric Hobsbawm bucked the trend, writing a secret music column about the radical potential of ‘jazz solidarity.’
Laws Unto Themselves
Recent governmental attempts to manipulate the courts have raised liberal concerns about the preservation of the political-legal divide – but it’s naïve to think that judges in Britain have ever been apolitical.
Be Nice to Service Workers Today
A recent survey of retail staff showed 9 in 10 faced abuse during Covid-19, often for attempting to ensure social distancing – as pubs and shops reopen, it’s time to treat the workers who run them with respect.
How the British Empire Built the Food System that Is Destroying the Planet
The British Empire created the first global capitalist market for food, thereby transforming huge swathes of the world – and leaving behind a legacy of environmental destruction that haunts a rapidly warming planet.
When Unions Spy for the State
Last month, Norman Tebbit revealed that senior figures in the old EETPU helped Thatcher’s government spy on trade unionists – it’s a cautionary tale about labour leaders who side with the state against their class.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Socialism From Outer Space
Writer Kurt Vonnegut, who died on this day in 2007, used science fiction to explore the failings that turned humans against each another – and came to view socialism as the alternative to a world of exploitation.
Covid-19 Proved that Homelessness Could Be Ended
In England’s first lockdown, 15,000 rough sleepers were given a place to sleep. The policy proved that homelessness could be ended – now it’s time to campaign for a statutory right to housing.
You Can Never Go Home Anymore
‘Peterdown’, David Annand’s novel of class and regional divides, threatens to be the state-of-the-nation novel we badly need – but settles too often for easy caricature.
How ‘Kill the Bill’ Protests Have Reawakened Solidarity
The Covid-19 pandemic has been an isolating experience, but protests against the Police Crackdown Bill have shown the power of collective action – and the solidarity we need to build a better society.
When the Right Tried to Cancel the Turtles
In the 1980s and ’90s, successive moral panics about hooliganism and violence on TV culminated in a right-wing campaign against a dangerous social phenomenon: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Extraordinary Life of Zygmunt Bauman
Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman is known for his academic work, but he also played an active role in some of the major events of 20th century Europe – and retained a deep commitment to his socialist politics.
Remembering Eric Gordon
Eric Gordon, who passed away this week aged 89, founded the Camden New Journal in the fire of 1970s industrial struggle – and in the decades that followed neither the paper nor its editor lost their radical edge.
The Radical Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson was born on this day in 1898. A pioneering black singer and actor, he was also a lifelong radical – and committed his life to the struggle against oppression and exploitation across the globe.
Biden’s $100 Billion Plan Shows Labour Was Right About Public Broadband
After the 2019 election, Labour’s bold plans for public investment in high-speed broadband were mocked by the commentariat – but now Joe Biden is embracing the idea, and polls show it is growing in popularity.
Big Finance Is Bleeding the Global South During Covid-19
Big financial institutions like BlackRock and HSBC are making up to 250% profit on the Global South’s debts during the pandemic – undermining Covid response in some of the world’s poorest countries.
How Liberals Rewrite Their Own History
Ian Dunt’s new book ‘How to Be a Liberal’ is part of a broader intellectual exercise to drape liberal history in comforting myths – ones which conceal its role in abetting imperialism, slavery and fascism.