Once upon a time, the working class stood at the forefront of struggles for social and economic justice. Pushed to the wall by the capitalist system, the industrial proletariat spawned a mighty movement able to win essential shop-floor concessions and social welfare protections. But this very success, along with harsh neoliberal counterblows and massive economic changes, has undercut the militancy and unity of the labor movement.

Is it time, then, to bid farewell to the working class as a core change agent? Not so fast, argues Guy Standing in The Precariat: Today’s Transformative Class? The essay examines the shifting class structure under global capitalism, and finds new bases for hope. Standing argues that the “precariat”—the growing army of workers leading precarious lives of insecure jobs and uncertain futures—could crystallize into a new mass class for spearheading progressive change.

It’s an intriguing hypothesis, but not all scholars and activists are sold. A roundtable on Debating the Precariat raises critical questions, and Standing offers a spirited response.

Ultimately, forging a global movement for systemic change will take more than revitalizing working-class solidarity. Many social actors and oppositional streams must come together in common cause and shared vision. In the American context, Medea Benjamin’s incredible journey as an activist and organizer has taken her across peace and justice battlegrounds from the 1960s to the present. She talks about her life and times, and the challenges ahead, in Living on the Frontlines of Resistance.

Carry it on,