MUTINY PART 1 with Grace Blakely

“I think that changing the spirit of our society from an individualistic one to one with a recognition of the importance of collective power is the biggest challenge that the left faces today.”
The pandemic and the cost of living crisis has brought the concept of social class to a new level of cultural awareness in Europe and the U.S., underscoring the different lives lived by those who live off of their labor and those who live off of capital. In this episode, Peter Mertens talks with Grace Blakely, a left-wing economist in London, England, about “the summer of discontent,” where, after the sputtering restart to the economy after COVID-19 lockdowns, big companies’ greed for profit and extreme weather events due to the climate crisis led to a rise in consumer prices, workers in the U.S. and U.K responded to with strikes and growing popularity in unions.
‪@PeterMertensTV‬ is a leader of the Workers’ Party of Belgium. He has served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives since 2019, and as a Municipal Councillor in Antwerp since 2013. He is the author of “They Have Forgotten Us: The Working Class, Care and the Looming Crisis” and “Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting,” available in English this fall from 1804 Books.
‪@PeterMertensTV‬