debating.society #35
Lukas Hermsmeier - Uprising. America's New Left
debating.society
How is it that in the USA criticism of capitalism is becoming louder and louder, that radical demands such as the abolition of the police are being widely discussed, and that more and more politicians who see themselves as socialists are being elected to parliament?
The European view of the U.S. tends to focus on Donald Trump and the radicalization of the Republican Party. But since the financial crisis of 2008, a new, militant left has emerged in the U.S. that is increasingly succeeding in implementing changes locally and nationally, and in carrying an unprecedented critique of capitalist conditions into society. The book follows these movements across the country. From the feminist movements to Black Lives Matters to climate activists, new grassroots unions and Democratic Socialists of America. Viewed "from below," the U.S. is a country of awakening that is experiencing a tremendous surge of politicization, and thus can also be an inspiration for the movements in Europe.
Lukas Hermsmeier, born in Berlin in 1988, has lived in New York since 2014 and works there as a journalist and author. He writes about American politics and culture for Zeit Online, Tagesspiegel and taz, among others.
