Portside

Gaining social control over the economic life of society - achieving socialism, in a word - requires not only that we know that the democratic republic is the staging ground for such change. It also requires that we recognize that the evidence of the future we want is visible and "invading" our present, to borrow a term from C. L. R. James, in forms that exist in the current conditions of our social life.

After a disappointing result for Unidos Podemos, which campaigned ferociously, the party has showed it will not be going away. In spite of the election results, the Spanish public is alert and focused. People do not attend rallies to meet friends or be entertained. Everyone is paying attention.

The "great majority of people deemed philosophers in history," writes Justin E. H. Smith in this new book, "have not had PhDs, have not belonged to a professional philosophical organization, and have not carried out their careers in ‘departments.’” Smith teases out the significance of that observation, as he seeks to help us rethink what philosophy is and what it means to "philosophize." Robert Minto assesses Smith's effort.

Decades later, the extreme, extrajudicial brutality Emmett Till encountered is almost inconceivable. Nevertheless, violence against African-American bodies still takes place today, sustained by a criminal justice system that provides everything but justice. And mothers like Mamie Till are still at the forefront of the fight for justice for their children and all children.

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“It’s a step on the path towards justice for our clients and for Victor but also for the many other families who lost someone at Chile Stadium so many years ago,” she said after the verdict. “We presented evidence that started to shed light on what happened there, and we hope that process will continue in Chile and we hope that the United States will extradite Mr Barrientos to face justice in the country where he committed these crimes.”

The Clinton campaign was ready to acknowledge serious problems: We need fair trade policy, inequality is a horrible problem, and unchecked climate change will wreck the planet. But when it came to specific policy changes, they often balked. Amendments against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and backing Medicare for all failed, with all the Clinton delegates voting against.

After the Wisconsin uprising, Erin Johansson and others felt there needed to be a central hub to connect scholars and the movement. The result was the creation of the Labor Research and Action Network (LRAN), an open, volunteer-driven forum to match academics with campaigners, share skills, design trainings, and award research grants to emerging scholars. The sixth annual meeting of LRAN took place this past weekend in Chicago.

'This decision has opened the door to go state by state, legislature by legislature, law by law, and restore access to safe, legal abortion.'

Leaders in both the environmental and labor movements say the country could prevent more public health disasters like the toxic water crisis in Flint, Michigan, if old infrastructure is fixed or replaced -- like leaky drinking water pipes, and natural gas pipelines. And at the same time, the repairs would create jobs.