Bhaskar Sunkara (born June 1989) is an American political writer. He is the founding editor of '' Jacobin,'' the president of ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

,'' and publisher of ''Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy'' and London's ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

''. He is a former vice-chair of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

and the author of ''The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality'' as well as a columnist for ''

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''.

Early life

Sunkara was born in the United States to parents of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

ancestry who had migrated to the US from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

a year before he was born. Sunkara credited his politicization to his reading as a teenager: from George Orwell's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...

'' and ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

'' he developed an interest in

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, reading his autobiography and

Isaac Deutscher Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

's three-volume biography, before progressing to the New Left, including thinkers such as

Lucio Magri Lucio Magri (19 August 1932 – 28 November 2011) was an Italian journalist and politician. Biography Magri was born in Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna, one of the most left-wing regions of Italy, but grew up in the strongly Catholic Bergamo, L ...

Ralph Miliband Ralph Miliband (born Adolphe Miliband; 7 January 1924 – 21 May 1994) was a British sociologist. He has been described as "one of the best known academic Marxists of his generation", in this manner being compared with E. P. Thompson, Eric Hob ...

Perry Anderson Francis Rory Peregrine "Perry" Anderson (born 11 September 1938) is a British intellectual, historian and essayist. His work ranges across historical sociology, intellectual history, and cultural analysis. What unites Anderson's work is a preoc ...

and the journal ''

New Left Review The ''New Left Review'' is a British bimonthly journal covering world politics, economy, and culture, which was established in 1960. History Background As part of the British "New Left" a number of new journals emerged to carry commentary on m ...

''. He joined the

at the age of 17, becoming editor of the DSA youth section's blog ''The Activist''. He went on to study history at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he conceived the idea of ''Jacobin'': after his sophomore year, he missed two semesters due to illness, and spent the time reading Marxist works.

Career

By the summer of 2010, he was preparing to return to his studies and inspired to create the magazine, which launched online in September of that year and in print at the beginning of 2011. Sunkara described ''Jacobin'' as a radical publication, "largely the product of a younger generation not quite as tied to the Cold War paradigms that sustained the old leftist intellectual milieus like ''

Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

'' or '' New Politics''". ''

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'' interviewed Sunkara in January 2013, commenting on ''Jacobin'' unexpected success and engagement with mainstream liberalism. In late 2014, he was interviewed by ''

'' on the political orientation and future trajectory of the publication and in March 2016 was featured in a lengthy '' Vox'' profile. Sunkara writes for ''

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'' magazine, ''

'', ''

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'', '' Vox'', '' Foreign Policy'', and ''

'', among other outlets. He has appeared on the

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Tavis Smiley Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to ...

'' program,

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's '' Up with Chris Hayes'', and the FX show '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell''. On February 23, 2022 ''

'' named Sunkara to the role of president, replacing Erin O'Mara.

Awards and recognition

In 2020, Sunkara was named to ''Fortune'' magazine's "

40 Under 40 ''Fortune'' magazine's 40 Under 40 is a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. The list has existed in two phases: First, from 1999 to 2003, the list was presented purely as a numeric ...

" list under the "Government and Politics" category.

References

External links

''Jacobinmag.com''
*
The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality
' (Basic Books, 2019).
Bhaskar Sunkara articles
for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunkara, Bhaskar American political writers George Washington University alumni People from White Plains, New York Living people American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent American male non-fiction writers American publishers (people) Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Writers from New York (state) American people of Punjabi descent American male writers of Indian descent American Marxists 1989 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers