Archives
-
The Bio-Economic Pandemic and the Western Working Classes
“Sick… guess we didn’t move quick enough after all…” — Stephen King, The Stand. The Covid-19 Shock Meets an Impending Economic Recession As of March 2020, the world is back to … Keep reading »
-
Building Universal Healthcare in South Africa
Wittingly or unwittingly, the proposal for National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa has created two camps: pro-NHI and anti-NHI. But as I argue in a recent article in the … Keep reading »
-
Detroit Bus Drivers Win Protections Against Virus Through Strike
Detroit bus drivers collectively declared Tuesday morning that they weren’t going to work without safety precautions. Bus service was canceled throughout the city because of “the driver shortage,” as city … Keep reading »
-
Supports for Workers and Covid-19: Two Responses
Statement from Workers in Toronto’s Travel, Hospitality, and Transportation Sectors Our economy is built upon mobility. We all move short and long distances every day in an interconnected global economic system. … Keep reading »
-
Workers and the Virus: Radical Lessons from Italy in the Age of COVID-19
In the face of the mounting coronavirus crisis, we need to start asking a crucial question: who pays for the lockdown? The last three weeks have taught some hard lessons … Keep reading »
-
Barred from Striking, Airline Food Workers Sit Down in Traffic
Melieni Cruz, who helps prepare the meals passengers eat on airplanes, went thousands of dollars into debt because she couldn’t pay her soaring medical bills. “When the doctor found cysts … Keep reading »
-
The Insanity of Making Sick People Work
Coronavirus is putting extra burdens on workers, from health professionals to low-paid cleaning staff at the front line of combating infection. Yet many of these same workers don’t even have … Keep reading »
-
Safety Is Not Negotiable for Anyone – Including Healthcare Workers
The following is a joint statement issued March 13 by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Unifor, … Keep reading »
-
Is a Democratic Biopolitics Possible?
Giorgio Agamben’s recent intervention (“The Invention of an Epidemic”) which characterizes the measures implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic as an exercise in the biopolitics of the “state of … Keep reading »
-
Donald Trump Is Using the Coronavirus Crisis to Attack Social Security
Donald Trump’s proposal to cut the payroll contribution rate is a stealth attack on Social Security. Even if the proposal were to replace Social Security’s dedicated revenue with deficit-funded general … Keep reading »
-
Inoculating Against Globalization: Coronavirus and the Search for Alternatives
Social developments constantly surprise. The latest anxieties over the economic contradictions of extreme globalization haven’t been triggered by a trade war, inter-imperial rivalry, a financial meltdown or riots in the … Keep reading »
-
No, the Coronavirus is Not Responsible for the Fall of Stock Prices
We are witnessing a big crisis in the stock markets on Wall Street, Europe, Japan and Shanghai, and many blame the coronavirus for it. In the last week of February … Keep reading »