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social transformation

Resistance Is Only Half The Equation

June 4, 2026 Barbara Peterson, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
We no longer live in a world where courts reliably enforce limits on executive power; where media calls out abuse as abuse or where politicians depend on legitimacy to hold power. These conditions are eroding, and power is becoming more and more centralized.  In the U.S., the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States in 2024 significantly expanded presidential immunity for official acts, raising concerns about accountability. Globally, ruling parties in Hungary and Poland have reshaped judicial systems through court-packing and disciplinary regimes that weaken independent checks on executive authority.

Tyranny Or Revolution

June 2, 2026 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , , ,
Mexico City — There are two ways to confront global capitalism. There are mass movements, especially strikes, which disrupt commerce and government to force the ruling class to create systems of justice and equality — albeit ones where capitalists retain significant power. The National Coordinator of Education Workers in Mexico (CNTE) — a grassroots union created in 1979 by dissident teachers — is currently attempting this in Mexico. It announced that if its demands for salary increases and job security are not met it will occupy public spaces and shut down the World Cup soccer matches scheduled to take place later this month in Mexico City.

South Africa’s Conference Of The Left: A Bold Call For Working-Class Unity

June 1, 2026 Nicholas Mwangi, People's Dispatch. , , ,
South Africa’s progressive forces are converging. On May 29, 2026, a diverse array of socialist, communist, and Pan-Africanist organizations converged for the “Conference of the Left.” The meeting was held under a definitive mandate of “Building a Left Movement for Working Class & Popular Power.” At a moment marked by deepening economic crisis, unemployment, austerity, and fragmentation within progressive politics, the gathering reflects an attempt to rethink the future of left politics in the country. The conference, organized by the South African Communist Party (SACP) has brought together an distinctly broad spectrum of organizations.

Socialism Is Slow To Mature

May 22, 2026 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. , , ,
In 1921, a few years into the Soviet experiment, V. I. Lenin published an essay with the revealing title ‘New Times and Old Mistakes in a New Guise’. The essay opened a line of inquiry that would remain with Lenin until the end of his life three years later. What captivated him was the issue of how to build socialism in a country ravaged by war, with minimal capital at its disposal, a largely peasant society with high rates of illiteracy (around 70%), and no public administration capable of running a socialist-oriented state.

History Suggests Inequality Ends In Catastrophe

May 19, 2026 Jeremy Lent, Resilience. , , , ,
There may never have been a group that had it so good as the Japanese plutocrats of the 1930s. In that era, the richest one percent of Japanese society captured twenty percent of national income — a third more than the top earners in America command today. Within a decade, however, most of that bounty had vanished. Their share of national income collapsed by more than two-thirds; the value of their estates fell by 98 percent. What happened? Total war, total defeat, and foreign occupation. Mass mobilization forced the state to intervene in industrial production, double income taxes, restrict dividends, and requisition merchant ships.

‘Ecocivilization’ – A Bold Vision For System Change

May 4, 2026 David Bollier. , , , ,
With so many social movements seeking system change – cooperatives, commons, Doughnut Economics, peer production, relocalization and more – things quickly get confusing. There are so many different vocabularies, political premises, and theories of change swirling about. How can we possibly work toward a coherent, common future?  Jeremy Lent’s new book, Ecocivilization, is a significant beachhead in answering this question. It demonstrates that a feasible future is possible precisely by drawing upon the rich pluriverse of possibilities. Lent’s book is therefore a relief to encounter.

Collective Community In Minneapolis

February 10, 2026 Kaia Svien, Popular Resistance. , , ,
I heard Joanna Macy talk about a Great Turning many years ago and now we who are on the ground in metro MN are experiencing a powerful manifestation of it. I, who have been longing for this all my life, did not truly expect to witness the profound realms of connection and knowing of our oneness with all of life that we are encountering day by day in multiple ways. I could write a huge amount about the cruelty, the fear, the widespread trauma, the physical injuries, the ripping apart of families, devastation of lives, closure of immigrant businesses throughout the city, and on, but I want this piece to ignite your own visions of who we humans are when we follow love and connection.

From Inner Change To Systemic Change

May 14, 2025 David Bollier. , , ,
“Be the change you want to see in the world!” is the familiar counsel of great social movements. The advice echoes the lyric from the great African-American song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” But how, exactly, might our inner epiphanies and transformations catalyze systemic change? We may individually develop new insights and values from wisdom traditions and contemplative practice, but how might they radiate out into something larger, collective, and consequential? At this particular moment in modern civilization, as societies grapple with climate change, savage inequalities, and authoritarian rule, the pathways for bringing about change seem terribly murky.

Death Doula To A Dying Empire

April 26, 2025 Kazu Haga, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
A while ago, my partner LiZhen turned me onto a TEDx talk by Deborah Frieze. In this talk, titled “How I Became a Localist,” Frieze said something that really made me think: “You can’t fundamentally change big systems. You can only abandon them and start over or offer hospice to what’s dying.” She went on to explain that systems — our educational systems, economic systems, criminal justice systems — are nonlinear and incredibly complex. These aren’t machines but living systems. And as with anything alive, they go through a natural cycle of rise, peak and decline. It’s the nature of life. In breath, out breath. Expansion, contraction. Birth, death.

Global Tapestry Of Alternatives: Weaving Transformative Connections

February 15, 2024 Ashish Kothari and Shrishtee Bajpai, Grassroots Economic Organizing. , , , ,
Proactive responses to the multiple crises the world faces—ecological, socio-cultural, political, economic, spiritual—are widespread and diverse. They range from movements of resistance to the dominant ecologically destructive and socially inequitable model of “development” that has been imposed across the world, to people’s initiatives at constructing or sustaining ways of life that meet human needs and aspirations without despoiling the earth and exacerbating inequalities. They are emerging from Indigenous Peoples and other rural communities, from urban neighborhoods, from both the Global South and Global North, from both marginalized sections and the privileged elite.1

Another Apocalypse Is Possible

October 18, 2020 Srećko Horvat, ROAR Magazine. , , ,
Everyone speaks about the Apocalypse as if it means “the end of the world.” But, if we really want to grasp the complexity of the contemporary threats that are leading to mass extinction, we should return to the original Greek meaning of apokalyptein as of “unveiling”, “uncovering” something. What is happening today — from the ongoing climate crisis to the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic — is luckily not the end of the world just yet, but in its horrifying destruction it is a warning, a “revelation” about the near future to come.

Remembering David Graeber

September 13, 2020 Grace Blakeley, The Tribune. , , ,
David Graeber, who died tragically last week at the age of 59, was, as everyone knows, an anarchist. He didn’t like to wear it as an identity, as should be very obvious from his Twitter bio (‘I see anarchism as something you do not an identity so don’t call me the anarchist anthropologist’), but anarchism was the foundation of his politics.  He was also a friend of mine. When I was first introduced to him, I probably reacted like I was meeting Beyonce. I was a huge fan of his work – when I was doing my masters in African Studies I picked up a copy of Debt, and I credit reading it with renewing my interest in political economy (after spending my undergraduate years being told that economics meant utility functions and budget constraints).  

A Mass Uprising Is Here, Protect It From The Ruling Class

June 7, 2020 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance.org. , , ,
The breadth of the uprising is astounding with antiracism protests in all 50 states and more than 500 cities plus more than 13,500 arrests in 43 cities. This weekend there were larger numbers of protesters in the streets including cities and towns of all sizes. In Washington, DC, where we were, the crowds were multi-racial and crossed all ages but were dominated by black youth. People were united in their opposition to racism and police abuse and their calls for systemic change. While the crowds were notable in the nation's capital, across the country, and around the world, what stood out this week is the palpable fear emanating from the White House. President Trump, who has blown racist dog whistles from his first-day campaigning in 2016, is afraid.

A World Without Nations?

July 4, 2014 Steven Colatrella, www.21stcenturycosmopolis.blogspot.it , ,
What would a world without national borders look like? Steven Colatrella has put forward a draft constitution that seeks to define the 21st Century Cosmopolis. He defines this as what he hopes will become a discussion about what the future could be. His vision is for: "A Civilization based on Self-Governing Cities and Townships, Cooperative Self-Governed Workplaces and Public Finance, Sustainable Agriculture and Renewable Energy and Universal Access to Citizenship, Income and Subsistence. And how we can start it up now and already have in many places." Hhe explains how urban areas and community assemblies have been common throughout efforts to transform government. He points out how recent occupy protests were named after cities -- Occupy Denver, Occupy DC, Occupy Oakland or after communities, Occupy Wall Street. And how this has been a long term experience, e.g. the Paris Commune, the Soviets of revolutionary era Russia (Soviet means "Council") had local worker councils in cities. He sees the urban area -- the cosmopolis -- as a natural organizing entity.

Cooperatives & Community Work Are Part Of American DNA

April 20, 2014 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.truthout.org , ,
Curl's area of expertise is very important for those of us seeking transformational change to a new, more equitable economy and participatory democracy. His book methodically and authoritatively traces the hidden history of cooperatives, cooperation and communalism in US history. He shows how these models of economic democracy were intertwined with many of the transformational changes the country has made, including breaking from English empire, ending slavery, and gaining women's suffrage, worker rights and union rights, as well as civil rights. He also shows how economic democracy has been in constant battle with concentrated-wealth-based capitalism, which is threatened by a more equal distribution of wealth. This history is critical for advocates to understand; therefore,For All the People is essential reading.
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