We ask the newly elected urbanist and organizer about his ongoing fight for workers’ rights, affordable housing, and a Green New Deal.
Born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from Bangalore, India, Nikil Saval’s journey to the Pennsylvania State Senate has taken him all over the United States. In New York, he studied at Columbia University, wrote about architecture for
The New Yorker, and was co-editor in chief of the influential
N+1 journal. In San Francisco, he earned his PhD at Stanford University researching the history and culture of white-collar workplaces, which later served as the inspiration for his first book,
We Live in a Society
Political speech does not find individuals as points on an economic grid, directing them toward the party or politician whose platform matches their abstract preferences. It finds them, instead, embedded in particular lifeworlds. And if class processes form the basis of political action, they still must become manifest through the organization of social life, which in turn becomes meaningful as culture. This goes some way toward explaining how so many people could vote for Trump and his party, even as large majorities endorse progressive policy goals in surveys and ballot initiatives.
Organization is the entire question
The Number Of Democratic Socialists In The House Will Soon Double. But The Movement Scored Its Biggest Victories Down Ballot The resurgence of democratic socialism has occurred during a period of growing activism against widening inequality, persistent racism and looming environmental disaster. WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 11: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a town hall hosted by the NAACP on September 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. Also pictured is Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The congresswome. WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 11: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a town hall hosted by the NAACP on September 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. Also pictured is Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The congresswomen talked about their backgrounds and how they were disruptors who “challenged conventional wisdom and assumptions” about how to get elected, among other topics. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
Email Address
As true n+1 heads know, n+1 liquidated our office earlier this year to save money on rent. And liquidated is right! Now we store all our bookstore inventory in the corner of a wine cellar (pictured), generously loaned to us by an anonymous restaurateur and friend of n+1. It’s dark in here! Sometimes, the basement floods, and a little moat of stagnant wine-water glugs up around our inventory; we’ve started wearing our waterproof boots to work.
Anyway, we’re begging you from our wet basement: PLEASE HELP US GET OUR INVENTORY OUT OF HERE! BEFORE IT GETS WET! We have a lot of great stuff in stock, all of it perfect for holiday gift-giving: new books by our brilliant contributors, anthologies from our contemporary art imprint Paper Monument, beautiful tote bags and posters, and an assortment of back issues to fill the n+1-shaped holes in your loved ones’ bookshelves, hearts, and minds. Place orders before Friday, 12/11 to ensure USPS ground delivery by Christmas, a