Sign In

Join

You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Chains: A May Day Reading List

The United States officially recognizes May 1 as “Law Day.” This was originally suggested by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 and ratified in 1961. According to the American Bar Association, it’s an opportunity to “celebrate the rule of law.” Sorry, Judge, but bullshit. In the spirit and celebration of the real May Day—an acknowledgment of the long, brutal struggle for worker’s rights—we present pieces from our archive on labor, capitalism, neoliberalism, and the state of workers’ rights today.


¤


Featured image: John Vachon. [Untitled photo, possibly related to: Picket line at the King Farm strike. Near Morrisville, Pennsylvania], 1938. Farm Security Administration—Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (LC-DIG-fsa-8b29428). CC0, loc.gov. Accessed April 29, 2025. Image has been cropped.