U.S. Politics | Dissent Magazine

The Teacher Strike: Conditions for Success

Leo Casey ▪ December 2, 2020

The teacher insurgency of the last decade is a welcome sign of the revival of the strike. But strikes are just one part of a broader strategy to build the power of labor.

Know Your Enemy: Talking Trump, with David Roth

Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell ▪ November 30, 2020

David Roth, one of the best (and funniest) chroniclers of Donald Trump, takes stock of a grotesque and damaged man as he prepares to leave the White House.

What Obama Wants to Forget

Timothy Shenk ▪ November 24, 2020

A Promised Land is Obama’s attempt to frame the discussion around his presidency. It’s most revealing where it departs from earlier accounts offered by his chief aides and his own previous memoirs.

Acceptance Without Rancor: A Father-Son Conversation About Black Lives Matter

Kevin Mattson and Jay Mattson ▪ Monetary Democracy

As millions rise up against police violence, a white father and his Black son discuss racism, resistance, and empathy.

Foreign Policy After Trump

Nick Serpe ▪ November 19, 2020

Joe Biden promises to lift U.S. foreign policy up from the low-minded nationalism of the Trump era. But the era of confident American hegemony is drawing to a close.

“We Need a Lobsterwoman AOC”: The Future of Maine Politics

Ania Wright ▪ November 17, 2020

In a failed campaign to oust Susan Collins from the Senate, the Democratic Party proved that money alone can’t win elections in Maine.

Will Joe Biden Be the First Climate President?

Alyssa Battistoni ▪ November 16, 2020

Biden can and should use executive action to reduce emissions. But we also need policies that can help build a popular base for climate action, connected to material improvements in people’s lives.

The 2020 Elections: A Roundtable

Timothy Shenk, Sheri Berman, Adom Getachew, Michael Kazin, Aziz Rana and Matthew Sitman ▪ November 13, 2020

Five Dissent editorial board members discuss what the elections tell us about the path ahead for the left, center, and right in American politics.

Belabored: Labor at the Ballot Box

Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen ▪ November 13, 2020

While the presidential race ended with a narrow victory for the Democrats, the electorate revealed how sharply divided it is—what does it all mean for labor?

Hal Rogers’s Kentucky Kingdom

Tarence Ray ▪ November 9, 2020

The second-longest-serving Republican in the House isn’t as well-known as Mitch McConnell, but he has pioneered a model of political economy replicated to grim effect across rural America.

A Blow for Labor Rights in California

Michelle Chen ▪ November 6, 2020

Gig workers were barely scraping by even before companies like Uber spent $200 million on the successful campaign to pass Proposition 22. Now, two paths lie ahead: one paved by corporate cash, and the other blazed by the workers behind the wheel.