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The Disappearing White-Collar Job

Chip Cutter and Harriet Torry The Wall Street Journal
A once-in-a-generation convergence of technology and pressure to operate more efficiently has corporations saying many lost jobs may never return.

This Week in People’s History, May 16 . . .

Portside
Member of Congress using a whip to drive Lady Liberty out of the U.S. Capitol
President Wilson unleashes repression of peace advocates. Republican Party denounces slave trade as a ‘crime against humanity.’ First compulsory public education. Camden draft protestors acquitted. Wiretapping gets the nod. Amnesty for Confederates.

Contemporary Pundits Need a Refresher on Populism’s History

Steve Babson History News Network
Elites who tar their critics in the U.S. with the sly pejorative of “populist” count on our collective amnesia. They’d rather the real Populists remained forgotten, along with the potential they represented.

A Labor Strategy Beyond Elections

Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn Asian Labour Review
Elections rally
On May 14th, voters in Thailand voted in a new ruling coalition, against the ruling military dictatorship. This article, written by Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn before the election, offers ideas for a potential labor movement revival.

Zulu vs Xhosa: How Colonialism Used Language To Divide South Africa’s Two Biggest Ethnic Groups

Jochen S. Arndt The Conversation
South Africa has 12 official languages. The two most dominant are isiZulu and isiXhosa. While the Zulu and Xhosa people share a rich common history, they have also found themselves engaged in ethnic conflict and division, notably during urban wars between 1990 and 1994. A new book, Divided by the Word, examines this history – and how colonisers and African interpreters created the two distinct languages, entrenched by apartheid education.