And a few things that happened while I was there
Left & Right: The Psychological Significance of a Political Distinction
This book brings together for the first time an updated, revised collection of influential essays and articles that capture some of the most exciting scientific and scholarly contributions to the topic ...
The new right: Anatomy of a global political revolution – European Council on Foreign Relations
The thinkers and ideas of the rising nationalist right merit the political mainstream's attention. Only by understanding them can it build a resilient counter-p
Freedom Now | Polity: Vol 52, No 3
Left-wing politics is resurgent. Self-proclaimed socialists are unexpectedly popular. Proposals like universal health care are a commonplace of Democratic campaigns. But there is not yet a clear, unifying idea behind this political shift. We propose that that idea is freedom. While the left once understood freedom as emancipation from the economy, the right spent the twentieth century neutralizing and appropriating the idea of freedom by reinventing the economy as the true site of freedom. To reclaim freedom as a value of the left, we have to begin with the daily experience of most people: the unfreedom of the workplace. The authoritarian organization of work is not just an offense against freedom; it also helps us understand how freedom requires emancipation both from the economy and within the economy, and why that emancipation requires mass struggle.
Bridging Social Movements and the New Social Web (working draft) - Variable Context with @CaptainCalliope.blue
On connecting movements, media, and new protocol ecosystems to rebuild the civic, cultural, and technical foundations of a freer, more self-determining society.
The Times are Urgent: Let’s Slow Down • Writings – Bayo Akomolafe
An Open Letter to CONCORD-DEEEP, CIVICUS, GCAP, Civic Society Organizations and Activists Working for a ‘Better’ World. This article is co-authored by Bayo Akomolafe and Marta Benavides. With deep gratitude for the stories of transformation now emerging across the planet, and for the renewed hope we share for a different kind of world, we greet you from our hearts.
Immigrants against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America
From the 1880s through the 1940s, tens of thousands of first- and second-generation immigrants embraced the anarchist cause after arriving on American shores. Kenyon Zimmer explores why these migrants turned to anarchism, and how their adoption of its ideology shaped their identities, experiences, and actions. Zimmer focuses on Italians and Eastern European Jews in San Francisco, New York City, and Paterson, New Jersey. Tracing the movement's changing fortunes from the pre–World War I era through the Spanish Civil War, Zimmer argues that anarchists, opposed to both American and Old World nationalism, severed all attachments to their nations of origin but also resisted assimilation into their host society. Their radical cosmopolitan outlook and identity instead embraced diversity and extended solidarity across national, ethnic, and racial divides. Though ultimately unable to withstand the onslaught of Americanism and other nationalisms, the anarchist movement nonetheless provided a shining example of a transnational collective identity delinked from the nation-state and racial hierarchies.
Cartographic Memory: Social Movement Activism and the Production of Space
“Cartographic Memory is a creative, important, and well-written book that offers a vital analysis of Latinx activism in Oakland. Juan Herrera’s concept of social movement continuities helps us analyze the range of ways that actors make social change, rather than only focusing on the most radical politics or certain epic moments. Herrera’s book is an outstanding contribution toward building a nuanced and complex understanding of Latinx social movements.” - Victoria Lawson, author of Making Development Geography
Shifts in U.S. Social Media Use, 2020–2024: Decline, Fragmentation, and Enduring Polarization
Using nationally representative data from the 2020 and 2024 American National Election Studies (ANES), this paper describes how U.S. social media use has shifted across platforms, demographics, and politics. Overall platform reach declined, driven by growth in the share of Americans — especially the youngest and oldest cohorts — who report using no social media. Visiting and posting activity on Twitter/X and Facebook have fallen by nearly 50% since 2020, with the decline on Twitter/X driven primarily by reduced participation among Democratic users. While Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter/X lost ground, TikTok and Reddit grew modestly, consistent with a more fragmented digital public sphere. Platform audiences aged and became slightly more educated and racially diverse. Politically, most platforms shifted toward Republican users while remaining, on balance, Democratic-leaning. Twitter/X experienced the largest change: among posters, the partisan balance swung over 70 percentage points from Democrats to Republicans. Across platforms, political posting remains closely tied to affective polarization, as the most partisan respondents are also the most active. As casual users disengage while polarized partisans remain vocal, online discourse becomes narrower and more ideologically extreme.
Reclaiming the Ladino Left
The early 20th century saw a flurry of left activism by Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews in the US. Recovering their legacy can enrich the Jewish left of…
Far Right Groups Targeting Pride Month - Google My Maps
Tracking the far right anti-LGBTIQ activists, Christian Nationalists, White Supremacists, and violent extremist groups targeting LGBTIQ events during Pride Month. Incident Report: https://tinyurl.com/PrideIncident Map Information: https://tinyurl.com/MappingPride #DefendPride Resources: https://itsgoingdown.org/defendpride/ Project of Radical Reports: https://www.radicalreports.org Contact: radicalreportsnewsletter@gmail.com
Pluralistic: The curious, intertwined history of climate and digital rights activism (11 Oct 2025)
I am an environmentalist, but I'm not a climate activist. I used to be – I even used to ring strangers' doorbells on behalf of Greenpeace. But a quarter of a century ago, I fell in with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and became a lifelong digital rights activist, and switched to cheering on environmental activists from the sidelines of their fight:
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People
Kekla Magoon relays an essential account of the Black Panthers—as militant revolutionaries and human rights advocates.
Meta surrenders to the right on speech
“I really think this a precursor for genocide,” a former employee tells Platformer
How to fight hate: New Humanist’s Autumn 2026 issue is out now
With race riots on the rise and the populist right gaining traction, we ask how the UK can push back
I got into tech six years ago because I figured I could have an outsized impact on making a less harmful, more empowering world for workers and marginalised people. Only this year, I started connecting IRL with people who think this way. Here I tried to write about the ways that's transformed me.
DWeb, Culture and Resistance
meri.garden