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What follows is an extract from a longer essay entitled Managing Despair : The one despair liberalism has no intention of addressing is the despair created by work itself. Just like its conservative counterpart, liberalism speaks of jobs only in … Continue reading →

Guy Standing recently wrote a short introduction for openDemocracy on the main themes of his new book on the precariat. He ends the essay by suggesting three proposals to develop a precariat-sensitive political program. But before commenting on his proposals … Continue reading →

Few Americans know of Colin Ward. When I try to identify him as a “British Paul Goodman” I often receive blank stares from anyone born after the Sixties. So how to succinctly define a man who straddles so many classifications? … Continue reading →

Kathi Weeks’ The Problem with Work deserves an exhaustive review. Finally, a well-reasoned and critical treatise on the nature of work has appeared that grapples with the work ethic and wrestles it into submission. In any case, this is not … Continue reading →

My tribute to the Luddites, on their 200th anniversary, appears in the Spring issue of The Fifth Estate. An excerpt from the opening paragraphs and a one near the end follows: “In the waning moonlight, three bands of sullen men … Continue reading →

I have seen references in the news coverage of Occupy Wall Street to the “Culture of Greed,” which strikes me as a meaningless term. Think of what comes to mind with its opposite – the Culture of Generosity. This grammatical … Continue reading →

I respect Richard Sennett for the sensitivities he displayed towards working class culture in his early books . We both grew up working class in Chicago in the 50’s and that may bias my view, but I think Senntt has … Continue reading →

It seems appropriate to briefly review a book on Workers’ Control to commemorate US Labor Day. Ours to Master and to Own, Immanuel Ness and Dario Azellini (Haymarket Books, 2011) Ness and Azellini have edited a splendid collection of essays … Continue reading →

There’s a good intro to the history of Haymarket on Truthout: One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, a bomb exploded in Chicago’s Haymarket Square. The explosion, the culmination of more than a decade’s worth of labor strife, came as … Continue reading →

I was expecting to be impressed by the photography of this new documentary after seeing the trailer. I wasn’t disappointed. The aerial shots by the French film crew alone are stunning. While huge swats of abandoned factories and homes characterize … Continue reading →