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Jacobin No. 41
- GenresPolitics
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 16, 2021
Jacobin is, to me, at its best when it brings class into sharp focus, and this issue is all in the title: “The Ruling Class”. There are several great pieces, large and small, that are worth your time.
“Know Your Enemy” by Paul Heideman offers an insightful view of how the field of sociology has historically served the ruling class by being charged with the analysis of “the bottom of society”, and speaks of Martin Nicolaus’ observation and G. William Domhoff’s decades-long work to turn that scientific rigor towards the powerful in society.
The meat of this issue lies in “Take Me To Your Leader: The Rot of the American Ruling Class.” This work from Doug Henwood takes us on a journey three centuries long (admittedly with a main focus on the 20th) into the origins of power in America, and draws a clear line to policy makers, corporate bigwigs and household name brands that we see today. Individuals as well as the organizations they have created (or sit on the councils of) are dragged out of the shadows and pinned to the conspiracy board that is shaping our world.
This piece is the backbone of the issue, all others seem to compliment and tie into it in some way, from Shamus Khan’s “Twilight of the Boarding School Boys” which highlights the interconnected families of privilege that sit together in the halls of private schools, and later in the halls of power, to Ted Jessup’s inside look at the sloppy and power-mad politics of the intelligence community in “I Was a 1970’s CIA Brat”.
This is, in my opinion, the best of their issues so far. Consider giving it a read.
“Know Your Enemy” by Paul Heideman offers an insightful view of how the field of sociology has historically served the ruling class by being charged with the analysis of “the bottom of society”, and speaks of Martin Nicolaus’ observation and G. William Domhoff’s decades-long work to turn that scientific rigor towards the powerful in society.
The meat of this issue lies in “Take Me To Your Leader: The Rot of the American Ruling Class.” This work from Doug Henwood takes us on a journey three centuries long (admittedly with a main focus on the 20th) into the origins of power in America, and draws a clear line to policy makers, corporate bigwigs and household name brands that we see today. Individuals as well as the organizations they have created (or sit on the councils of) are dragged out of the shadows and pinned to the conspiracy board that is shaping our world.
This piece is the backbone of the issue, all others seem to compliment and tie into it in some way, from Shamus Khan’s “Twilight of the Boarding School Boys” which highlights the interconnected families of privilege that sit together in the halls of private schools, and later in the halls of power, to Ted Jessup’s inside look at the sloppy and power-mad politics of the intelligence community in “I Was a 1970’s CIA Brat”.
This is, in my opinion, the best of their issues so far. Consider giving it a read.
May 31, 2021
I don't know what it was. Was it the classy black and gold cover? Or the essays by Ted Jessup (which is a strangely gossipy piece), Doug Henwood (a long offering that nevertheless only merits one of the three centuries that his piece advertises), and other fun, if short pieces by Liza Featherstone, Daniel Finn, and Matthew Miranda, among so many other writers? In any case, I hadn't read an issue of Jacobin for quite some time, but this is the one that I settled for as soon as it came in through the front door. And it was good!
May 31, 2021
Fine issue. First one I've read in awhile. Liked almost all of the pieces.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews