ARTICLES
Society
The Importance of Work
Work, we can’t really avoid it. Human civilisation has been built on work, the labouring of many billions of people throughout history has created the cities, farms, industries, armies and infrastructure which have marked our time on the planet. Even before human civilisation emerged, the role...
History
Luddism
Technology is at the heart of contemporary social movements. Activists can bypass the corporate media and post their views via blogs. Police brutality can be easily captured and disseminated across the web to counter the lies of the establishment. I actually came to write this article as a result of...
Society
The Future Isn’t Working
A wage, these days, is increasingly hard to come by, and increasingly precarious when found. The proliferation of agency work, zero-hours contracts and underemployment is well-documented. Microtasking, where people are paid per task to work from home for tech giants like Amazon, is perhaps the most...
Political Theory
Sales Projections
I am a salesman, I sell things for a living. What I sell has no importance. Selling is always the same process, with only minor adjustments according to whether you sell cars or paintings, films or hams. What remains the same is the distinctive manner in which the consciousness of a salesperson tends...
Political Theory
Suffering With a Smile
“I usually get up at 5 or 5:15am. Historically, I would start sending emails when I got up. But not everyone is on my time schedule, so I have tried to wait until 7am. Before I email, I work out, read, and use our products. … I am not a big sleeper and never have been. Life is too exciting to...
News
Chicago’s Political Prisoners
In the days leading up to last May’s NATO conference, Chicago police preemptively arrested a number of activists across the city. Nearly a year later, five of those activists, now known as the NATO 5, remain incarcerated. Two have taken plea deals. Three are awaiting trail.
NATO5 actually refers...
Preoccupying
Preoccupying: Michael Hardt
Michael Hardt has combined his role as Professor of Literature and Italian at Duke University with political writings and activism. Together with the Italian Marxist Antonio Negri, he has produced an influential critique of our present time. Their trilogy of books – titled “Empire”, “Multitude”,...
International
Europe’s Other Crisis
At times, it seems as if the events of the last few years are following a well-worn script: a financial crash, followed by recession, which leads to the re-emergence of old hatreds. In certain crisis-hit countries (Greece, Hungary), the downturn appears to be leading directly to the return of fascism....
Activism & Protest
Be the Change. Boycott Workfare
It has been over a year since The Occupied Times first invited Boycott Workfare to spread the word with an article in print. At the time, few people knew what workfare was, or why it mattered. Since then the campaign against workfare has come a very long way. It continues to grow and, importantly,...