Abstract
Not since the 1960s has a cohort of young people felt so drawn to a radical critique of American society. Back then, it was a college-age population growing up in a period of post-war prosperity. Today, it is a somewhat older cohort in their mid-twenties to thirties, coming of age in far more austere circumstances. In both cases, however, a sizeable fraction of American youth did and are now again concluding that something is profoundly wrong in the “homeland.”
Demographics do not lie. But what we make of them is not so straightforward. Is it correct and useful to speak of “millennials” as if they comprised a coherent political category? Or do they exist only as the perfect niche for corporate advertisers? Generational analysis is a tricky business. Nick Serpe explores recent thinking about the millennials (and along the way scans some other generational rubrics) to unravel the enigma.
President Trump issued a dire warning about the socialist threat facing America in his State of the Union address. And indeed, our readers are no doubt well aware of the explosive growth of socialist sentiment, again especially among young people. It is a protean movement whose composition and objectives are in flux. To get a better handle on life inside the Democratic Socialists of America, NLF’s Consulting Editor Joshua Freeman interviewed four activists. We offer these interviews as a snapshot of why people joined, what their priorities are, and what they envision for the future of the movement.
Socialists and many other young and old activists alike are coalescing around the push for a “Green New Deal,” co-sponsored by perhaps the most notable of those new activists, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sean Sweeney’s column, “Dispatches from the Climate Battleground” is devoted to an analysis of that formidable campaign and the legislation it proposes.
One principal reason young people (and many others) are up in arms has to do with the punitive way the U.S. government treats immigrants in this country, both those already here and those trying to get here. For a long time, the issue of mass migration has been addressed as a matter of law and law enforcement, which it is. But its roots go much deeper. Gabrielle Clark examines both the “push” and “pull” forces that have for decades generated a vast flow of migrants from the Global South. And she pinpoints an emerging political economy on the border itself, where major interests stand to gain from the big business of security and incarceration.
Digital media has attracted hordes of younger people both as readers and writers. For newer journalists, it has seemed a way of getting a foot in the door. But the reality has turned out to be not so welcoming. Consequently, the house of labor is laying down a foundation in virtual reality. Sarah Jaffe reports from the front lines about union organizing that has begun to sweep through the industry.
Getting sick, getting old, having an accident, needing some time off to recuperate or to raise a child, getting laid off, needing to re-educate or retrain, along with many other realities of daily life happen to young and old alike. Whether and how well people survive these inevitabilities depends on what we now call the “social safety net.” Some nets are more protective than others. Here, Samantha Valente presents a graphic comparison of social protections offered by the United States and other industrialized countries.
Medical care, in particular, is at the top of the American political agenda these days. The momentum is growing behind some version of single-payer health insurance. James Kahn lays out the case for why Medicare for All is far and away the best alternative to current practice. But achieving universal health insurance will not be easy. Max Fraser in his “Organized Money” column analyzes the methodical efforts of the private health care industry to thwart the movement.
The Southland has functioned for years as bulwark of conservatism. Last year’s midterms registered some serious weakening of that wall. Part of the reason for that is the slow, but now perceptible growth of the labor movement in the region. David Reynolds reports on some tangible gains by new AFL-CIO forays in Texas and Florida.
NLF is happy to include in this issue this year’s winner of the best essay written by a student at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, publisher of New Labor Forum. Zachary Smith’s article on how labor ought to respond to the growing presence of robotics in the workplace will interest all those concerned with the threat/promise of automation.
In addition to Sean Sweeney’s and Max Fraser’s columns, this issue includes Mariya Strauss’ “Roots of Rebellion” column, an account of a multiethnic/multiracial movement in Philadelphia that is taking on real estate developers while seeking to return vacant urban land to meet the agricultural needs of local communities. In our “Working-Class Voices” feature, Yeni Dewi provides a first-hand account of sweated labor in the garment industry.
This is the final issue in which Gabriel Winant serves as editor of our Books and the Arts section. We will truly miss him. He has done a magnificent job over the last three years. He is now moving on to other pursuits. We wish him great success and are confident he will have that success.
The books Winant has chosen to review in this issue include one, by Alex Rosenblat, about how the algorithms deployed at Uber are transforming work at the ride company; another, by Fan Shigang, about Chinese workers responding militantly to factory relocations; and finally a book by Michael McCarthy about the way capitalist politics threaten the security of retired people. Matt Witt’s “Out of the Mainstream” column offers his customary collection of fascinating books and films you may not have heard of. And “Our Bookshelf” lists important new books by members of our Editorial Board and editorial team. We end with poems by Javier Zamora, a young award-winning poet from El Salvador who entered this country as an “unaccompanied minor” and has survived to tell the harrowing and surprising stories of that journey.