KPFA - Against the Grain

Hatim Rahman, a sociologist of work and technology, sheds light on the rising influence of digital labor platforms, where even highly educated professionals are managed by algorithms. He discusses the paradox of flexibility versus unpredictability and how ratings can dictate a worker's visibility. Rahman explores the diminished protections for contract workers, emphasizing the role of opaque evaluations in job opportunities. The conversation also highlights the impact of algorithms on daily life and the necessity for collective action to ensure transparency and accountability.

Join Ernst Bloch, the visionary German philosopher, along with Jon Greenaway, Mat Callahan, and Yvonne Moore, as they unravel the essence of utopian thought. They dive deep into Bloch's philosophy, exploring how hope is essential for human consciousness and political engagement. The conversation highlights the seductive nature of fascism and the critical role of the working class in revolutionary movements. They also discuss the need for innovative utopian ideas to address today's challenges, igniting aspirations for social justice and a brighter future.

The pandemic highlighted the vital importance of care work—whether childcare, nursing home care, medical care or schooling – and the struggles many people face to get sufficient care. Would more public investment solve the crisis? Historian Premilla Nadasen argues that the problem lies with contemporary capitalism itself, as care has become an enormous arena for corporate profit, in which the state is often deeply complicit. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Premilla Nadasen, Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism Haymarket Books, 2023 The post Profiting from Care appeared first on KPFA.

What happened to California’s prisons and jails when the Covid pandemic struck? Why did so many people die behind bars, and why were so many on the outside affected (and afflicted)? Hadar Aviram sheds light on multiple aspects of California’s Covid-19 correctional disaster, including activist efforts to prevent it. (Encore presentation.) Hadar Aviram and Chad Goerzen, Fester: Carceral Permeability and California’s COVID-19 Correctional Disaster University of California Press, 2024 (Image on main page by Annette Teng.) The post Covid Carceral Calamity appeared first on KPFA.

Economic inequality in the United States is vast and unyielding. Despite much fanfare about tight labor markets and wage growth, the top 1% own more wealth than the entire middle 60% of households by income. How did we get here? Historian Steve Fraser discusses capitalism, class, and our new gilded age. The post Our Gilded Age appeared first on KPFA.

How did residents of shack settlements in South African cities like Durban become a formidable political force? Yousuf Al-Bulushi lays out the operating principles, goals, and methods of Abahlali, one of the most well-known radical formations in all of Africa. Yousuf Al-Bulushi, Ruptures in the Afterlife of the Apartheid City Palgrave Macmillan, 2024 (Image on main page by Dexs1991.) The post The Shack Dweller Movement appeared first on KPFA.

While it would seem like the crisis of the political establishment would provide fertile ground for the left, instead we have seen the ascendancy of right-wing figures around the world, who denounce the establishment while shoring up the capitalist order. Often these figures are businessmen like Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi, who position themselves outside of the discredited status quo. Sociologist Leslie Gates asks why such capitalist outsiders win, looking at the very different trajectories of Venezuela and Mexico. She contrasts the victories of Hugo Chavez and Vicente Fox — the latter whose election heralded the rise of more leaders in his mold. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Leslie C. Gates, Capitalist Outsiders: Oil’s Legacies in Mexico and Venezuela University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023 The post Electing Capitalist Outsiders appeared first on KPFA.

Are countries like India and South Africa still committed to coal extraction? What plans are afoot to make a just transition to renewable power? Ashley Dawson describes and evaluates struggles against extractivism and for publicly owned and democratically managed renewable energy. (Encore presentation.) Ashley Dawson, Environmentalism from Below: How Global People’s Movements Are Leading the Fight for Our Planet Haymarket Books, 2024 The post Fossil Fuel Fights appeared first on KPFA.

Our food system, as well as our ecosystems, is clearly in crisis. Should we look to technological fixes and lab-grown meat to provide food for our future? Or, as writer Taras Grescoe suggests, should we look backwards instead to the lost foods of our past? Grescoe argues that a sustainable future necessitates cultivating food and plant diversity, while reclaiming collective practices, including those drawn from contemporary indigenous peoples. (Encore presentation.) Resources: Taras Grescoe, The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past Greystone Books, 2023 Taras Grescoe’s Blog: lostsupper.blog The post In Search of Lost Foods appeared first on KPFA.

In a California women’s prison, domestic violence survivors who killed their abusers in self-defense came together to practice a politics of mutual care, solidarity, and resistance. Rachel Leah Klein details the origins, efforts, and achievements of Convicted Women Against Abuse, situating their activities within the charged political context of the tough-on-crime 1990s. Rachel Leah Klein, “Surviving domestic and state violence: Women’s prison organising and the gendered politics of solidarity” Gender & History (open-access through August 2024) (Image on main page by Ryan McGrady.) The post Criminalized Survivors Mobilize appeared first on KPFA.