Category: Labor / Economics

Parallels can be drawn between MAGA in the United States and retrograde elements domestically, as well as other Western imperialist states.

With Pete Hegseth’s claim that the war against Iran has now cost the US $37.5 billion, I wanted to tie this spending to the war against American workers, looking at the period from 1947 to 2005 in great detail, and general detail thereafter. The elites, under both the Democrats and Republicans, are killing us: from…

Digital platforms have transformed culture into a system shaped by algorithms, advertising, and data. This article revisits the idea of the cultural industry to examine how social media influences identity, creativity, and consumption among Gen Z. It explores the rise of micro-dramas, influencer culture, algorithm-driven trends, and the growing shift toward private online spaces as…

‛The Lithium Frontier: Empire, Oligarchs, and the Struggle for the Salt Flats of the Andes’; ‛Lithium Mining: A New Mineral Rush Spearheaded by the United States, Europe, and Other Major Powers

South Africa’s migration debate often focuses on border control, documentation and xenophobia, while paying less attention to the conditions that drive migration across the African continent. This article argues that economic stagnation, political instability and limited opportunities in neighbouring countries are central to understanding migration patterns. It examines South Africa’s own social and economic challenges,…

Reports on support for Palestine and its Workers at the 2026 Labor Notes conference, June 12-14, 2026

A new analysis by the Project On Government Oversight argues that the real cost of maintaining the U.S. military is far higher than officially reported. By examining spending across multiple agencies and including long-term obligations and debt-related costs, the study estimates total military-related expenditures in 2025 at between $1.5 trillion and $2.3 trillion. The authors…

South Africa’s growing anti-migrant movement blames Black African migrants for unemployment, crime, and strained public services, despite limited evidence supporting these claims. Khwezi Mabasa argues that the country’s deep economic inequalities are rooted in decades of deindustrialization, labor market precarity, and policy choices rather than migration. Drawing on research and labor data, the article examines…

The Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) argues that the new international convention on platform work falls short of workers’ demands for enforceable rights and accountability. While acknowledging issues such as unsafe work, algorithmic control, misclassification, and inadequate social protection, the union says the framework leaves too much to national laws and future implementation.…

The primary importance of the cooperative sector in Brazil and elsewhere, where cooperatives are established, lies in their effective embedding in communities. This inherent decentralization encourages local participation in resilience and adaptation projects.