Jason Pramas Archives

UMASS CAMBRIDGE: MAKING HARVARD UNIVERSITY PUBLIC WILL SOLVE ITS WORKERS’ PROBLEMS—AND THE COMMONWEALTH’S HIGHER ED CRISIS

October 24, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Three weeks into their strike, Harvard University dining hall workers are in a difficult position. Their union’s demands for better wages, benefits, and working conditions are falling on deaf ears in the Harvard administration. They cannot continue picketing indefinitely on $200 weekly strike

JASON PRAMAS October 24, 2016

FIGHT WHERE YOU STAND: ORGANIZING FOR DEMOCRACY ON THE JOB CAN SPARK A MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY NATIONWIDE

IWW Demonstration. New York (1914) October 13, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS In a month featuring a couple of significant labor actions in the Boston area—the Harvard University dining hall workers strike for better pay and benefits, and the Boston Carmen’s Union’s recent civil disobedience action against privatization at the

JASON PRAMAS October 13, 2016

PLAY TO WIN: UK LABOUR PARTY LEADER SHOWS THE AMERICAN LEFT HOW TO MOVE BEYOND SYMBOLIC POLITICS

September 29, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Last week—as is the case many weeks every fall and spring in Boston—notices of small scripted protests by an array of area progressive nonprofits, unions, and student groups got me thinking about the rut the anti-corporate American left has been stuck in for

JASON PRAMAS September 29, 2016

AUTONOMOUS PROFITEERING: CORPORATE NETWORKS ENLIST BOSTON TO HELP THEM SELL SELF-DRIVING CARS … AND ELIMINATE JOBS

September 18, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS When seemingly random things happen in city government, they’re always worth a second look. Which was certainly the case last week when Mayor Marty Walsh announced a new partnership between the City of Boston, the World Economic Forum, and the Boston Consulting Group to

JASON PRAMAS September 18, 2016

STREET FIGHT: STUDENTS DISSATISFIED WITH POLITICS AS USUAL WILL FIND PLENTY OF GRASSROOTS ACTION IN BOSTON

September 6, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Are you a student? New to Boston? Want to fight for social justice, but not sure where to plug in? Well, this will hardly be a comprehensive list, but here are some local activist organizations and campaigns that are worthy of your consideration.

JASON PRAMAS September 6, 2016

DISSENTING OPINION: SMITH COLLEGE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORK STUDENT PROTESTERS RESPOND TO CRITICAL BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

August, 29, 2016 BY SMITH COLLEGE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS Introductory Note by Jason Pramas, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism: For the growing number of American students who come from “non-traditional” (read “Black, Latina/o, Asian, Native American, immigrant, and/or poor”) backgrounds, getting into a university — let alone graduating— remains extremely difficult. All

JASON PRAMAS August 29, 2016

CABLE JEOPARDY

August 22, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Now that broadband internet is a public utility, both cable companies and telephone companies need to pay for public access television — not try to defund it Last week, the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) was pleased to welcome the Alliance for Community Media

JASON PRAMAS August 22, 2016

A WORSE FATE THAN GLOBAL WARMING

August 9, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS The return of the nuclear arms race requires the revival of the disarmament movement “It is three minutes to midnight.” Young people reading those words probably won’t know what they mean. Folks who were adults when the Cold War ended with the 1991

JASON PRAMAS August 9, 2016

PARTY POOPERS: BLUE AND RED STALWARTS SHOULD STOP ATTACKING MINOR PARTY SUPPORTERS

July 30, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Blue and Red stalwarts should stop attacking minor party supporters for remaining independent—and start debating ideas The quadrennial whinefest has already begun. The RNC and DNC pageants are barely over, the presidential election is still over three months off, and yet major party

JASON PRAMAS July 30, 2016

MEDICINE FOR A MENDICANT MEDIA: Government support can revive American journalism

July 25, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS [Note: This is the full version of this article. A shorter version ran in the print edition of DigBoston— also dated July 25, 2016.] Journalism is in a tough spot. There are tens of thousands of trained journalists in the United States, but a dearth

JASON PRAMAS July 25, 2016