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Our most-read stories of 2017
It was a year of upheaval and tragedy, but not without progress and understanding. Il manifesto covered the currents of global change in 2017. These were the stories you read the most.
1. A world unified by the golden rule: expropriation
Interview. “We are facing an extreme form of extractive capitalism,” said the American sociologist Saskia Sassen in an interview with il manifesto.
2. Italy’s dirty war in Yemen
Investigation. The bomb dropped on a Yemeni funeral was that of an American company, but the manufacturer and exporter is unknown. Because of murky arms sales reporting, there’s a good chance they were Italian.
3. Italians prepare for general women’s strike March 8
Reportage. At a summit in Bologna, organizers met to plan the agenda of the nationwide walkout. “We will shut down the country.”
4. Antonio Casilli: ‘Workers are the heart of the algorithm’
Interview. We spoke with Antonio Casilli, author of pioneering research on the new digital capitalism. “We continue to work more and more, and the platforms are fragmenting and rendering invisible the labor that is necessary to make the algorithms work.”
5. Honeywell accepts Italian incentives, then moves to Slovakia
Reportage. More than 400 employees, plus local and national politicians, are protesting the planned relocation of a plant that makes turbos and rotors for the U.S. multinational corporation.
6. Amazon workers strike on Black Friday, saying they’re ‘physically broken’
Reportage. Work at Amazon’s distribution warehouses in Italy is backbreaking, and thousands of employees are part time and permanently on call. “It is a grim form of exploitation.”
7. Amazon, Rakuten battle for Japan
Business. Amazon Jp and Rakuten, two leading e-commerce giants, are chasing market dominance in Japan, a country obsessed with online purchases.
8. Italian journalist detained in Turkey begins hunger strike
Reportage. After nine days in solitary confinement, Gabriele Del Grande was allowed to make only one short, monitored phone call. He hasn’t been charged with a crime.
9. Antonio Negri: ‘The central banks are today’s Winter Palace’
Interview. We sat down with Antonio Negri for an exclusive interview on the publication of his latest book, Assembly, written with Michael Hardt. One hundred years after the Soviet Revolution, one of the most discussed philosophers in the world proposes a policy beyond populism.
10. Catalonia: Democracy in Europe is at stake
Spain. A joint declaration by the chairwoman of Die Linke and the secretary of the Italian Left Party: The “Catalan crisis” should be an opportunity to finally open a transnational debate about democracy in Europe.
See the most-read stories in the Italian edition.
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