The Wisconsin Idea

Culture

Squatters’ 60-Year War Against Private Property

How propertied classes team up with the state to forcibly evict urban squatters.

Margaret Garb

Feature

‘I Must Mourn’: Frederick Douglass on the Meaning of July 4th to the Slave

These words, spoken in 1852, are relevant to modern U.S. society mired in the legacies of slavery and racist brutality.

Frederick Douglass

Rural America

Reprieve for an Ancient Site: A Mining Company and a Tribe Find a Way to Work Together

Stephanie Woodard

Feature

Meet the Activists Still Fighting the Anti-Woman Legacy of Bill Clinton’s Welfare Reform

Why welfare activists are throwing their weight behind the RISE Out of Poverty Act.

Sarah Jaffe

Labor

If Ben & Jerry’s Is Progressive, Why Won’t It Protect Its Farmworkers?

Michael Arria

Feature

What the Single-Payer Loss Reveals About the Role of Corporate Money in California Politics

The chair of the California Democratic Party’s progressive caucus explains how it went down.

Theo Anderson

Dispatch

Detroit’s Underground Economy: Where Capitalism Fails, Alternatives Take Root

Over decades of poverty, Detroiters have fostered a resilient informal economy based on trust.

Valerie Vande Panne

Feature

5 Roadblocks to Reform in Chicago’s Police Union Contract

Critics say the city's agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police makes it more difficult to investigate and punish abuses.

In These Times and City Bureau

Labor

GM To Colombian Workers Injured On the Job: You’re On Your Own

Bruce Vail