By Organizing Upgrade On this one there is no ambiguity. Trump’s naming John Bolton as National Security Adviser is a clear declaration that Washington will intensify its current wars and do its best to start new and bigger ones. The headline on Middle East expert Juan Cole’s assessment didn’t mince words: “Let’s call Bolton what he […]
It’s a mistake to think about elections only when someone you don’t like is in office. by Claire Tran This past year has reminded me of many debates I have had about whether or not the Left should engage in electoral work. My stance on this question has been evolving over the years. This […]
by Maria Poblet When I ask Rosa Elva “Rosita” Tobías to tell me about her life, she tells me about her country, placing herself in the context of the collective experience of national oppression and social movements. “Like many women in El Salvador,” she says “I was shaped by a historical process of struggle since […]
A key challenge facing progressives is translating general strategy into concrete action priorities in 2018. What allocation of our always-stretched resources will give us the best chance of both breaking Trumpism’s grip on all branches of the federal government and expanding the base and strength of the left? What relative weight should be given to […]
By the Organizing Upgrade Editorial Team Since the 2016 elections, questions of power, strategy and scale have been at the forefront in the minds of progressive activists and organizers across the country. There are five developments that have taken place since the election that we think are especially important for developing effective strategies to build […]
By: Alan Nichols An initial draft of this paper was used in a summer 2017 study series by members of Wisconsin Citizen Action who are trying to build power for a transformative political vision in the state. The current version incorporates that group’s input and is currently (January. 2018) in use as part of a […]
By Calvin Cheung-Miaw Jonathan Smucker’s book, Hegemony How-To, has received considerable attention among left and progressive organizers. Most of the reviews have been positive (for instance, here and here): readers have generally found it to be timely for a left licking its wounds after Trump’s catastrophic election victory, as well as the impressive but limited […]
by Ravi Ahmad “I don’t care about your feelings. I care about the power to change the structures that are oppressing you.” Not terribly nice but this conversation started one of the closest political relationships I have. The first part is a flippant reference to the difference between being friends versus being comrades. The second […]
By Jesse Graham, Maine Peoples Alliance Maine People’s Alliance (MPA) is a statewide organization with a significant base: 32,000 members. One in 17 households in the state have been actively connected with the organization in one way or another: receiving its newsletters, giving money or coming to meeting. MPA recently won a resounding victory, winning […]
I have now spent 6 months on the ground in Ohio supporting local ‘Resistance’ groups, and I’ve helped a team of volunteer leaders build OPAL (Ohio Progressive Action Leaders), a statewide planning and coordinating body at the center of the ‘Resistance’ network in the state. Who are the “Resistance”? Why are they joining? What are […]