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Bhaskar Sunkara

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Bhaskar Sunkara
Sunkara in 2018
Born (1989-06-20) June 20, 1989 (age 37)
White Plains, New York, U.S.
EducationGeorge Washington University (BA)
Occupations
  • Publisher
  • writer
  • editor
Years active2010–present
TitleFounder of Jacobin, president of The Nation.

Bhaskar Sunkara (born June 20, 1989) is an American political writer. He is the founding editor of Jacobin, the president of The Nation, and publisher of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy.[1] He is a member and former vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Sunkara wrote the book The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality in 2019, and co-authored The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World in 2026. He has written opinion articles for numerous publications, including The Guardian. Sunkara advocates for a democratic socialist market economy controlled by workers, alongside social democratic government policies and public banks. He espouses leftist but relatively moderate social views, and anti-imperialist views on foreign policy. Sunkara was described by Nikos Mohammadi of conservative magazine UnHerd as "arguably the single biggest intellectual force" behind DSA.[2]

Early life

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Sunkara was born in the United States to parents of Indian ancestry who had immigrated to the US from Trinidad and Tobago a year before he was born. His father was a Telugu migrant from Andhra Pradesh while his mother's family had migrated to the island in the 19th century as indentured labourers from Punjab and Bihar.[1][3]

Sunkara credits his politicization to his reading as a teenager. From George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, he developed an interest in Leon Trotsky, reading his autobiography and Isaac Deutscher's three-volume biography. He then progressed to the New Left, including thinkers such as Lucio Magri, Ralph Miliband, Perry Anderson and the journal New Left Review.[3]

Sunkara joined the Democratic Socialists of America at the age of 17, becoming editor of the DSA youth section's blog The Activist.[4][5] He went on to study history at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he conceived the idea of Jacobin. After his sophomore year, he missed two semesters due to illness, during which time he read Marxist works.[5]

Career

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By the summer of 2010, Sunkara was preparing to return to his studies. He launched Jacobin in September of that year and in print at the beginning of 2011.[1] 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 or New Politics".[6]

The New York Times interviewed Sunkara in January 2013, commenting on Jacobin's unexpected success and engagement with mainstream liberalism.[7] In late 2014, he was interviewed by New Left Review on the political orientation and future trajectory of the publication[1] and in March 2016 was featured in a lengthy Vox profile.[8] In 2017, Sunkara became the publisher of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, a more theory-focused socialist journal published by Jacobin.[9]

Sunkara writes for Vice magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets.[7] He has appeared on the PBS Tavis Smiley program, MSNBC's Up with Chris Hayes, and the FX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.[10] Sunkara wrote The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality in 2019 and co-authored The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World with Ben Burgis and Mike Beggs in 2026.[11][12]

On February 23, 2022, The Nation named Sunkara to the role of president, replacing Erin O'Mara.[13] In June 2023, Sunkara led The Nation's relaunch of Bookforum magazine.[14]

Political views

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Economic views

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Sunkara supports a long-term market socialist or democratic socialist approach to the economy.[15] He believes that workers should control firms and private property, compete in markets (which he says are not inherently capitalist), and receive financing from public banks.[16] He says every worker at a firm should receive a minimum income, in addition to a share of the firm's profits, democratically apportioned by worker's councils. In The Socialist Manifesto, Sunkara proposes a system similar to the Yugoslav work-point system, which would limit the pay disparity between managers and employees to 4:1.[17] Sunkara supports workplace democracy.[18]

Sunkara believes in selective nationalizations, including of the "commanding heights of the economy".[16] He said socialists should aim to "abolish market dependence" by decommodifying "the basic infrastructures of human life", such as healthcare, education, transportation, energy, housing, and communications.[19] However, in The Blueprint, Sunkara and co-authors Burgis and Beggs rejected complete economic planning like that of the Soviet Union.[11] Sunkara has also criticized socialists who he sees as settling for social democracy instead of pushing for a post-capitalist society.[20][21]

He has called for redistributive policies, including increased corporate taxes and a general increase of taxes, especially on billionaires and the wealthy.[16] Sunkara supports "finding ways to control the wealth and power of billionaires and large corporations", and has argued that the existence of billionaires is the product of an immoral society.[22][23]

Social views

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Sunkara has described himself as a leftist, though commentators have noted he has more moderate social views than some in DSA.[2] Arash Azizi wrote in The Atlantic that Sunkara, along with Burgis, Eric Blanc, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, represented a mainstream "economically rigorous and democratically committed socialism", in contrast to "DSA's sectarians", who he framed as supporting Mao Zedong and Hamas.[24]

Sunkara claimed there's been "a sort of reconciliation of liberalism and socialism" among American socialists following the fall of the Soviet Union, and argued that many communist members of DSA were truly invoking the anarchist tradition. Sunkara said that increased incidents of political violence in the United States and the responses to them were small steps towards illiberalism across the political spectrum.[16]

Sunkara said that "America was the most racist country in the history of the world, and I think the left actually does a great discredit to its own history when it pretends like it still is".[2] He said that the American Civil War was led by the left to abolish slavery, and that socialists played a major role in the fight against the Jim Crow laws.[16] Sunkara has criticized identity politics, saying the left should oppose discrimination when it arises and support equal rights, but ultimately have a universalist message of "building institutions that improve people's lives".[25] He supports abolishing United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[16] He supports retaining the police and wants further restrictions on alcohol, marijuana, pornography, and gambling, though without outright bans.[2] However, he opposes police violence and mass incarceration.[26] Sunkara supports a Green New Deal, subsidized abortion, and LGBT+ rights.[27][28]

Contemporary politics

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Sunkara supported Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. Following Sanders' loss in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Sunkara said Sanders would join Martin Luther King Jr., Eugene Debs, and Mother Jones as "moral leaders against the great evils of their day".[29] Sunkara strongly supported Zohran Mamdani's 2025 New York City mayoral campaign, though said socialists "must be sober" about the challenges Mamdani would face as mayor.[30] In 2026, he wrote an opinion piece urging Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028.[31]

Sunkara opposes Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has expressed support for Palestinian self-determination. He described Northern Cyprus as a statelet occupied by Turkey, opposes the occupation of Western Sahara by Morrocco, and opposes the American embargo against Cuba. He said that anti-imperialism and anti-militarism are and have historically been part of the American socialist movement.[16]

Sunkara was strongly critical of Donald Trump's presidencies, and said Trumpism and democratic socialism both rose in response to increasing inequality in the United States.[16] He also said Trump's election was partly a product of racism and sexism. Following Trump's loss in the 2020 United States presidential election, Sunkara warned that if Joe Biden governed as a "normal" Democrat like moderate presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, "it won’t be long before we have to deal with the next Donald Trump".[28]

In The Socialist Manifesto, Sunkara argued that the Constitution of the United States would hinder progress towards socialism, and called for abolishing the Senate, the electoral college, and federalism.[17] He defended DSA's platform plank of abolishing the Senate, saying it was an undemocratic institution.[32]

Awards and recognition

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In 2020, Sunkara was named to the Fortune "40 Under 40" list under the "Government and Politics" category.[33] In 2026, the Broadbent Institute and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung named Bhaskar Sunkara the winner of that year's Ellen Meiksins Wood Prize.[34]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, Perry (November–December 2014). "New masses, new media: Bhaskar Sunkara "Project Jacobin" interview". New Left Review. II (90). New Left Review.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Zohran's conservative muse". Unherd. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Bhaskar Sunkara Project Jacobin". New Left Review (90): 29–43. December 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ McIntosh, Don (June 18, 2021). "Talking Socialism: Interviewing Jacobin's Bhaskar Sunkara". Democratic Left. Democratic Socialists of America. I did some work with YDS at the time when I was in college, but primarily my DSA work then was revamping The Activist blog, where a lot of early contributors to Jacobin cohered. DSA obviously was very formative. So it's kind of like I can't really imagine what I was like before DSA because I'm 31 and it's been 14 years since I joined DSA.
  5. 1 2 Matthews, Dylan (March 21, 2016). "Inside Jacobin: How a socialist magazine is winning the left's war of ideas". Vox. Archived from the original on June 5, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2017. But Sunkara's allegiances have shifted; his loyalties now lie with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the biggest remnant of the once-mighty Socialist Party of America following a 1972 split over the Vietnam War. Sunkara joined DSA at age 17 and got his writing start on the Activist, the blog of DSA's youth chapter. That's where he met a number of early Jacobin writers, including contributing editor Chris Maisano and "Four Futures" author Frase. Sunkara is still heavily affiliated with DSA, serving as the group's vice chair.
  6. ↑ "No Short-Cuts: Interview with the Jacobin". Idiom magazine. March 16, 2011. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Schuessler, Jennifer (January 1, 2013). "A Young Publisher Takes Marx into the Mainstream". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Matthews, Dylan (March 21, 2016). "Inside Jacobin: how a socialist magazine is winning the left's war of ideas". Vox. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  9. ↑ Holborow, Marnie (November 19, 2017). "Catalyst – A Return to Class". Irish Marxist Review. Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Debate: 'Is it Time to Try Socialism?'". University of Notre Dame. March 27, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Block, Fred. "What Democratic Socialists Want". Compact Magazine. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Book review: 'The Socialist Manifesto' by Bhaskar Sunkara". Acton Institute. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  13. ↑ Room, Press (February 23, 2022). "The Nation Names Bhaskar Sunkara its New President". The Nation. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  14. ↑ Dwyer, Kate (June 22, 2022). "Bookforum Is Returning, Months After Its Closure Was Mourned in the Literary World". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ Capaldi, Nicholas (October 7, 2019). "How to Bring Revolution to America". Law & Liberty. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "A Vision of a 'Society Without Capitalism'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  17. 1 2 R. Murray, Phil. "The Socialist Manifesto". Cato Institute. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Economic Democracy Is at the Heart of Socialism". Jacobin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  19. ↑ Sunkara, Bhaskar. "Reforming Capitalism Is Not Enough". Jacobin. ZNetwork. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  20. ↑ McManus, Matt (July 30, 2022). "Defending Bhaskar Sunkara". Sublation Magazine. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  21. ↑ Sunkara, Bhaskar. "The Necessity of Revolution". Catalyst Journal. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Munk Debates – Bhaskar Sunkara: A society that allows billionaires to exist is immoral". National Post. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  23. ↑ Wiener, Jon. "Democrats vs. Billionaires, Hamas vs. Fatah". The Nation. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ Azizi, Arash. "The DSA's Problem Isn't 'Media Training'". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Against the Politics of Communal Fear". Jacobin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Stop trying to fight racism with corporate diversity consultants". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  27. ↑ Andrews, Hellen. "Our Socialist Moment". First Things. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  28. 1 2 "Brace yourselves. The next Donald Trump could be much worse". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Bernie Sanders' political revolution is not over". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Zohran Mamdani offered New Yorkers a political revolution – and won". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  32. ↑ Burgis, Ben. "Yes, We Really Should Abolish the Senate". Jacobin. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Bhaskar Sunkara | 2020 40 under 40 in Government and Politics". Fortune. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  34. ↑ Broadbent Institute (April 22, 2026). "2026 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture ft. Bhaskar Sunkara". Retrieved April 21, 2026.
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