ISSUE IX : Note from the Editor
INTRODUction
By Sean Jacobs
Zohran Mamdani’s recent historic victory as New York City's next mayor has electrified progressives and energized a city ready for transformative change. As the son of Ugandan and Indian immigrants, a Muslim, and a state assemblyman, his win represents a watershed moment for working-class immigrant politics. The post-election mood in NYC is jubilant: his grassroots campaign built an inclusive coalition that bridges cultural divides, offering hope for a new kind of Democratic politics rooted in working-class immigrant experience.
His platform champions economic justice through a citywide rent freeze, universal childcare, free public transit, green infrastructure, higher corporate taxes, and stricter laws against exploitative landlords. These aren’t abstract policy proposals. They reflect Mamdani’s work organizing with New York City taxi drivers to eliminate debt that had crippled their livelihoods, and as a housing activist in Queens. And they reflect the policies of an actual social movement, the Democratic Socialists of America.
As Donald Trump’s government continues to target immigrants and disempower the poor, a new generation of US politicians, like Mamdani, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, among others, with roots and connections in the Global South, offers new political pathways for American politics. But it also draws inspiration from and inspires politics elsewhere.
Mamdani also represents a hopeful, hybrid, radically democratic future, one at odds with the narrow vision conservatives cling to. His victory proves that this vision resonates deeply with New Yorkers ready for real change.
On this, this issue of THE NEW CONTEXT includes three short essays by participants from a recent International Affairs public event exploring Mamdani’s impact on New York City and global politics. At the same time, we reflect on the discredited politics of the American mainstream—examining the life and career of Dick Cheney, who was never an outlier but rather emblematic of the American empire's norms. Finally, we include a brief post on AI’s personal impacts and short reviews of three sets of classic American films that reflect on the politics of U.S. foreign policy.