Social & Economic Rights

Rebuilding New Orleans

Grit TV : Racism & Discrimination

Activist Judith Browne-Dianis explains why progressives should care about public housing.

Homeless in New Orleans

Lizzy Ratner : Gap Between Wealth & Poverty

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has turned New Orleans into a tragic Tale of Two Cities.

Undone by Neoliberalism

Adolph Reed Jr. : Economic Policy

Before the storm, neoliberalism shaped the social and economic inequities of New Orleans; after Hurricane Katrina, it worsened them by making government the tool of corporations and investors.

New Orleans Forsaken

Gary Younge : Racism & Discrimination

One year later, how will we come to terms with what happened when Hurricane Katrina washed up the disenfranchised most people, including the President, have tried to forget?

A Right to Food?

Frances Moore Lappé : Food & Nutrition

Hunger is a violation of basic rights: a right to food, but more important, Bolivian and Brazilian experience suggests, a right to power.

The Sunkist Utopian

Brenda Wineapple : Biography

One hundred years ago, Upton Sinclair exposed the meatpacking industry. Three new books expose Sinclair as an activist dreamer with a messianic streak.

Katrina Lives

Susan Straight : African-Americans

African-Americans were at the center of hurricane destruction and suffered the hardest and the longest--stranded first in their segregated neighborhoods and now stuck in motels or cars, waiting for their FEMA checks.

Students Confront Sweatshops

Richard Appelbaum & Peter Dreier : Student Movements

With a new wave of activism against sweatshops sweeping college campuses, student interest in the morality of their clothing choices can set a standard for the rest of us.

Beyond Shelters

Michael Tisserand : Urban Issues

Advocacy groups like ACORN want New Orleanians to play a role in the rebuilding of the community they had to leave. The biggest issue so far: getting refugees of the storm back home.

Hurricane Gumbo

Mike Davis & Anthony Fontenot : Environment

The Cajun and Creole folks of Ville Platte, LA, learned long ago not to rely on the government for help. It the wake of hurricanes they launched a homemade rescue-and-relief effort to save their community.

Building a New Table

David Dyssegaard Kallick

People of the Gulf Coast should build community networks to ensure they have a voice in rebuilding discussions usually limited to real-estate developers and government officials.

'One Nation, Fragmented'

Eyal Press : U.S. Economy

It took a Gulf Coast hurricane to make Americans aware of the poverty in their own backyard. Now it's time for public policies that end racial segregation, so that the poor in this country will not continue to suffer.

The Power of Outrage

Eric Foner : Government

A nation's conscience is stirred by the abandonment of the poor and the frail: This may be the one bright spot of the man-made disaster on the Gulf Coast. Eric Foner gives a history lesson.

Another World Turns

Alisa Solomon : World Economy

Imagining the possibilities at the World Social Forum.

Economic Bad Boys

Patricia J. Williams : World Economy

Let Freedom Roll

Julie Quiroz-Martínez : Immigration to the US

Immigrants hit the road for civil rights.

Spending for Growth

Jeff Madrick : Senate