Alessandra Mezzadri: Informal labour, the majority world and the need for inclusive theories and politics

First posted June 28, 2019. Reposted in memory of MayDay The majority of people on this planet labour in the informal economy, or are subject to labour relations that are greatly informalised. According to the International Labour Oganisation, 85.8% of total employment in Africa, 71.4% in Asia and the Pacific, 68.6% in the Arab States… Read More Alessandra Mezzadri: Informal labour, the majority world and the need for inclusive theories and politics

The world’s biggest banks are still pouring money into fossil fuels

Nicole Goodkind, CNN Banks have pledged to go green, but last year they poured billions of dollars into expanding the capacity of fossil fuel production despite the accelerating climate crisis. Banks provided $673 billion to finance the fossil fuel industry last year, even as oil and gas companies made $4 trillion in profits, according to the annual Banking on… Read More The world’s biggest banks are still pouring money into fossil fuels

It’s Called the American Dream Because You Have To Be Asleep to Believe It

A thorough dissection of America’s capitalist mythology reveals the sham to which lots of people continue to subscribe, despite growing nationwide suffering. Much of what is now a core part of the American psyche is a series of get-rich-quick schemes passed off as meritocratic necessities within a capitalist society. Key words and phrases like “the… Read More It’s Called the American Dream Because You Have To Be Asleep to Believe It

What explains Pawar’s defence of Adani and the government?

Bharat Bhushan Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar surprised everyone by breaking ranks with the Opposition in defending controversial businessman Gautam Adani. He has distanced himself, though not his party, from the demand of 19 Opposition parties for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the Adani affairs. Even as he may be exploring an alternative political… Read More What explains Pawar’s defence of Adani and the government?

Huge strikes in Germany disrupt flights and trains

By Claudia Otto and Inke Kappeler Nationwide strikes in Germany — among its worst in decades — are causing huge disruption at the country’s airports, on public transport and at its largest port Monday. The walkouts have been called by two major transport unions in Europe’s biggest economy. Ver.di, one of the unions, has demanded a 10.5% pay raise for… Read More Huge strikes in Germany disrupt flights and trains

Noam Chomsky: Savage capitalist lunatics are running the asylum

Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian: When Lunatics Run the Asylum I’m proud to have lived through the last 20-odd years at TomDispatch with Noam Chomsky, now a remarkable 94. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, I stumbled into creating this site and, in October 2003, first posted a piece of his… Read More Noam Chomsky: Savage capitalist lunatics are running the asylum

Robert Urquhart: Capital accumulation as eternal recurrence: theology of the bad infinity

The uneasy cohabitation of science and theology in neoclassical economics is an indication of its ideological character If the lion had consciousness, his rage at the antelope he wants to eat would be ideology: Theodor Adorno; Negative Dialectics. Extract: Neoclassical economics — most notably in the model of general equilibrium — gives an exhaustive quantitative… Read More Robert Urquhart: Capital accumulation as eternal recurrence: theology of the bad infinity

Breaking corporate monopolies is the only way to save democracy

Nick Dearden A few months into his presidency, Joe Biden signed an executive order to promote competition in the American economy saying: “We’re now 40 years into the experiment of letting giant corporations accumulate more and more power […] I believe the experiment failed.” While those might seem unlikely words from the once centrist champion of corporate… Read More Breaking corporate monopolies is the only way to save democracy