SITES
Sites is a list of progressive sites and texts. Start with leftactivist.com to get to a wider world of information and action.
Scroll through this page for two types of information. First clickable LINKS to websites and other data sources (e.g. podcasts, videos, images). This includes links to progressive groups, projects and current campaigns. Second, information available in text form (e.g. books, journals, magazines), TEXTS. Where the best way to locate and buy a book, journal or magazine is to go to a website, it will be in the first (clickable links) list.
If you have suggestions, go to the Contact page to submit them. It is early days, but I am still a long way from locating enough other sites taking a wide view of how organizers everywhere in the left Movement of movements can unite to win power on the basis of shared theories, strategic goals and tactics. If you can help here, please do.
LINKS TO SITES
The sites are in no particular order. Scroll to the bottom and scan the capsule descriptions to find ones you may like – some of the best ones may be quite far down.
Political comedy site.
https://www.thejuicemedia.com/
A very funny political satire site from Australia.
New Zealand left news site. Connections to many bloggers. Criticizes NZ parliamentary left too.
Describes self as doing liberal coverage of crime-related political and justice news.
Created after Trump election in 2016. Cites Hannah Arendt and Bertold Brecht poems as inspiration. Focus is on rise of authoritarian state in USA.
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/
People for the American Way monitors right-wing media in USA and exposes its rhetorical devices.
https://anothergodlessliberal.blog/
Intelligent blog essays by West coast public policy analyst and grad student with avowed special interest in issues of (de)democratization, religion/atheism and comparative political philosophy.
Non-political site to allow academic and independent researchers to connect with researchers in their area. Claims over 17 million people have signed up to free accounts.
European Consortium for Political Research is for academic researchers.
Southern Poverty Law Center is one of the leading centers supporting movements against racism and hate in the USA. Well known for its tracking and exposes of right wing groups, and is often targeted by them.
Centre on Social Movement Studies at Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence is the site for the organization sponsoring a large proportion of the academic studies of current European social and political movements being done today. Under the leadership of the amazingly prolific Donatella Della Porta (90 books and 300 articles or book chapters), who has a special interest in police and left violence and democracy as a goal/result and process/means.
Site for Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Seems to be related to Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The Alcove page republishes articles from little magazines. Arguments page includes blogs from multiple contributors. Another page has essays by ‘wonks in exile’, presumably people working for thinktanks and policy research institutes.
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/
Pew Research Center (‘Social and Demographic Trends’) is a leading sponsor of polling and survey and like research on social and political attudes and related matters in the USA.
An online archive of the original texts by mostly European Marxists since Marx. Seems to have British origins but it has a truly long list of editors in many countries. Leans towards Trotskyism and Left Communism in its selections, but a great source of many texts. Also an encyclopedia with entries on events and concepts.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/
Liberal blog since 2006 on finance and economics in USA. Has multiple contributors.
Mainstream but left-leaning essays on capitalism, globalization and the environment, several by well known authors.
http://www.satirewire.com/content1/
Sometimes silly and often indirectly political satire site will make you laugh and think at the same time.
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch
‘We track corporations and PR spin’. The Center for Media and Democracy does exposes of the ALEC lobby group that provides right-wing legislation ready-made for legislators, the Koch brothers and many other right-wing spin groups in the USA.
Site for organization dedicated to putting the movement back into the labor movement in the USA. A monthly print publication, publishing of books, sponsor of training workshops and conferences for labor organizers and militants.
Online complement to the independent Marxist political economy magazine Monthly Review, published since 1949, associated with Leo Huberman and Paul Sweezy in the 1960s and now edited by Paul Bellamy Foster.
‘Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting’. Articles take apart biased and misleading media stories on specific issues. Tab puts you at page for Counterspin Radio.
‘Original investigative journalism and analysis on politics and empire’ site, founded by Max Blumenthal, features investigative news articles. Pushback with Aaron Mate page of video reporting. Red Lines with Anya Parambil page of video reporting.
Democratic socialist news site, that favours working class organizing, is an online complement to the magazine that began in the 1960s era. Not sure if it is officially linked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
https://www.inequalitymedia.org/
Former Labor Secretary (for Clinton) and UC Berkeley prof Robert Reich and filmmaker Jacob Kornbluth won awards for their film on inequality. This site is for their production company that creates popular education videos for use by local movements and for viewing by individuals.
‘Truthout works to spark action by revealing systemic injustice and providing a platform for progressive and transformative ideas, through in-depth investigative reporting and critical analysis’. Since 2001.
Transcripts of and links to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez’s Democracy Now daily hour-long progressive news radio show, broadcast by stations all over the USA.
Online complement to The Nation, the oldest American liberal newsmagazine, founded by abolitionists in 1865.
Liberal and libertarian news site led by former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald (made famous by his publishing of exposes on surveillance of US citizens by Edward Snowden) and Jeremy Scahill (whose book on Blackwater won an award). They aim to practice ‘adversarial journalism’ on ‘politics, wars, surveillance, corruption, the environment’ and several other topics.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/
Nathan J Robinson heads editorial team for this site that is a complement to the bimonthly libertarian democratic socialist print ‘magazine of politics and culture’. Interviews. Editorial roundtables. Page of Frivolity.
Complement to the pro-Bernie democratic socialist quarterly Jacobin journal, edited by Bhaskar Sunkara and a mostly American but also European editorial team, that claims to ‘reach’ 60 thousand print subscribers and get 2 million monthly hits on this website.
Created in 1997 as a progressive news outlet. ‘We share our readers’ progressive values of social justice, human rights, equality and peace. Common Dreams is committed to not only being your trusted news source, but to encouraging critical thinking and civic action’.
‘n+1 is a New York–based American literary magazine that publishes social criticism, political commentary, essays, art, poetry, book reviews, and short fiction. It is published three times each year, and content is published on its website several times each week.’
‘The Baffler is America’s leading voice of interesting and unexpected left-wing political criticism, cultural analysis, short stories, poems and art. We publish six print issues annually, as well as online content every day of the cursed workweek. Founded in 1988 by Thomas Frank the magazine is currently edited by [a millennial generation editorial team headed by] Jonathon Sturgeon and headquartered in New York. We publish both new and established voices, and our regular contributors include Barbara Ehrenreich, Susan Faludi, Evgeny Morozov, Rick Perlstein and Astra Taylor.’ Like Frank, The Baffler takes issues of class seriously.
Ralph Nader blog, radio, books and public interest organizations by the 1960s and since consumer activist.
Populist-leaning Max Sawicky is a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC. Go to site for lots of links to mainstream economists who lean liberal or left.
https://www.dailykos.com/softlaunch/frontpage
The top online daily reporting on insider news relevant to the US Democratic Party and US mainstream politics generally. It encourages people to take local and national action on the issues.
News and blogs complement the mainstream liberal American Prospect print magazine.
‘A radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice’.
‘Founded in 1974, Dollars & Sense is a publication of Economic Affairs Bureau, which is under the fiscal sponsorship of the the Union for Radical Political Economics… the Economics Affairs Bureau has been a worker-run, collectively managed organization. This… fits with the mission to challenge orthodox economics, to promote progressive economics, and to help build a movement for a new economic system.’
Political satire and humour. Cartoons. Videos. Columns. Faux news. Blogs. User contests.
https://www.multinationalmonitor.org/
Online accompaniment to bimonthly magazine that ‘tracks corporate activity, focusing on the export of hazardous substances, worker health and safety, labor union issues and the environment’.
http://conservativetransparency.org/
‘Conservative Transparency is an interactive database that tracks the flow of money among conservative donors, advocacy groups, political committees, and candidates.’
A one-person ‘human-curated news aggregator… to introduce you to news sources and voices that share the ideals of equality, justice, anti-corruption, support of workers, and the understanding that a better world is possible, and one day we’ll have it.’ Can subscribe to the Better is Possible newsletter.
Seventeen free lance journalists contribute to a site that highlights issues of the prison industrial complex and racism, among others.
The English edition of Le Monde Diplomatique (one of 29 different editions in various languages) includes the major articles from the original Paris-based French language edition. It is especially good in its reporting and long features on Third World countries (and within that especially the Arab world and parts of Africa), and, of course, France within Europe. Subscriptions to the print and/or digital editions are available online. Started in 1949 as a paper to brief diplomats, le monde diplomatique published under the wing of the moderately conservative Le Monde. It became a separate company with a strongly left orientation in 1996. Every month, In the Podcasts section, ‘George Miller interviews LMD authors about their articles and the issues behind them’.
Z Communications is a truly vast set of websites and resources. Lydia Sargent was key in starting South End Press in 1978 ‘to raise consciousness about class, gender, race, and power and to provide information, analysis, and vision to help activism’. Michael Albert cofounded Z [print] magazine with Sargent in 1987. He is an originator and advocate of Participatory Economics (Parecon) as the key to a New Left agenda. The ZCom site is a gateway to ZNet (interlinked websites) and ZTranslations, ZMI, ZVideo, ZBlogs and ZForums.
https://pda.nationbuilder.com/
Mainstream politics left liberal more than left-wing, founded out of the Howard Dean campaign for president in 2004, the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) have chapters in most US states. ‘PDA was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and our country. As a grassroots PAC, with our sister organization People Demanding Action, we work to enact policies that serve the public interest, not the big special interests. In 2016, we helped launch Young Progressives Demanding Action (YPDA) to organize for progress on national college campuses. Our inside/outside strategy is working. We're revitalizing the Democratic Party by endorsing candidates who run on progressive principles.’
Not sure about who operates smirking chimp or to what purpose, but its slogan is ‘News and commentary from the vast left-wing conspiracy’. As such, it is an aggregator of news, blogs and forums – so you can locate many of those through the site. There is a Radio Free Chimp out there somewhere.
The original progressive thinktank in Washington DC since 1963. ‘For more than five decades, IPS [Institute for Policy Studies] scholar-activists have provided critical support for major social movements by producing seminal books, films, and articles; educating key policymakers and the general public; and crafting practical strategies in support of peace, justice, and the environment.’ Especially in opposition to America’s key imperialist wars starting with the Vietnam war.
https://popularresistance.org/
Created out of the 2011 Occupy movement (with all the flaws as well as strengths of that movement), Popular Resistance offers an aggregator of news stories from progressive sources, a podcast Clearing the FOG (Forces of Greed), and links to campaign groups of their own creation. ’A growing culture of resistance is utilizing nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience as primary tactics, and is forming real democratic organizations to empower local communities… Our mission is to aid in bringing movements for peace and economic, racial and environmental justice together into an independent, nonviolent and diverse movement’.
https://urpe.org/ or (old version of site) https://urpe.wordpress.com/
‘Founded in 1968, The Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) is an interdisciplinary membership organization of academics and of activists. Our mission is to promote the study, development and application of radical political economic analysis to social problems.’ Newsletter. Blogs. Links to radical political economy scholarly journals.
http://heterodoxnews.com/hed/journals.html
A major resource for left-leaning undergrad or grad students. An annotated list of schools that have left-leaning economics-related programmes and what they specialize in. A 50 page list of progressive and left economics-related journals, followed by annotations that tell you the focus and mission and slant of each journal. Teaching materials. Blogs to follow. Listservs to join. Newsletters to subscribe to. Research institutes and professional associations.
Popular US blog provides select roundup of progressive blogs and US news and media criticism.
‘It’s Going Down is a digital community center for anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movements across so-called North America.’ (Anonymous) reports from participants in occupations, strikes, police riots etc. Podcasts.
News and analysis web complement to the Australian weekly magazine about the environment, peace, rights, democracy and equality.
Pambazuka News(‘Voices for Freedom and Justice’) is an independent media news site that covers all parts of Africa. Very important for activists in African countries but also for those elsewhere -- since we typically do not follow or understand developments in that fast-growing part of the world.
News articles and videos of the Aljazeera English TV channel. Mainstream but a must-view source for world news, not just the Middle East.
http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/
Resources of all kinds for budding journalists to provide them with search tools, documents, websites etc in order to do the work of an investigative reporter [in the U.S.]. Excellent source for anyone else too.
Unbelievably complete set of links to online newspapers and magazines in countries around the world.
http://neweconomicperspectives.org/
‘This website offers policy advice and economic analysis from a group of professional economists, legal scholars, and financial market practitioners . We started this blog in order to weigh in on the serious challenges facing the global economy following the financial meltdown in 2007. We aim to provide an accurate description of the cause(s) of the current meltdown as well as some fresh ideas about how policymakers — here and abroad — should address to the continued weakness in their economies. Our approach, which has been dubbed “Modern Money Theory” or “The Kansas City Approach,” builds on the work of Abba P. Lerner, John Maynard Keynes, Hyman P. Minsky, Wynne Godley and other important figures of the past.’
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/
Another MMT site. Prof Bill Mitchell co-wrote a recent Macroeconomics text based on it, arguing that MMT (hence a more active state relying on fiscal policy more than on monetarist central bank interest rate manipulation that has the sole goal of keeping inflation down) could rebuild rich country economies ravaged by neoliberalism. Mitchell also cowrote Reclaiming the State that suggests that Brexit, Trump and the rise of right-wing nationalism are signs that there is a popular yearning for a return to national sovereignty, hence they ‘reconceptualise the nation state as a vehicle for progressive change’. Highly debatable, so let’s debate it.
https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/
The celebrity motorcycle-riding US-based academic economist and former Syriza party Greek government finance minister. He tried to negotiate better conditions for repayment of loans incurred by previous governments before the imposition of brutal structural reforms on Greece. Active in creating various center-left groups promoting an alternative Europe and an Alternative (maybe post-capitalist) world.
The UK-based was ‘learned society Association for Heterodox Economics was ‘formed in 1999 to provide an annual conference where all heterodox (that is, Post Keynesian, Marxian, Sraffian, Institutional-evolutionary, social, Austrian, and feminist) economists could gather’ to articulate alternatives to the ‘one “mainstream” approach – neoclassical economics – [that] has come to occupy a position of hegemonic domination. It is this domination which the AHE seeks to challenge, through dialogue between alternative perspectives’.
Personal website of the famous U.S.-based geographer. He is widely regarded as the leading interpreter and explainer of Marx’s economic theories, in particular through his close reading and exposition of the classic volumes of Capital. He is equally renowned for his many books and articles and talks on globalized neoliberalism and possible alternatives to it.
https://imprintsjournal.wordpress.com/
‘Imprints is [was] a journal which publishes academic work promoting a critical discussion of egalitarian and socialist ideas. Although Imprints no longer publishes new articles, the editorial board has decided to make the back issues available online, for free… Imprints features original research articles, reviews, and interviews with important intellectual figures on the left.’
Finkelstein has published ten books and many pamphlets, and given countless talks, to critique racist colonialism practiced by the Israeli state. Fiercely independent and non-classifiable thinker and activist.
Ezra Klein’s high quality mainstream liberal US news site is known for going into greater depth in its reporting than most other sites trying to do the same thing.
The Society Pages (TSP) is an open-access social science project headquartered in the UMinnesota Sociology department. It includes articles from its journals as well as articles for the site, links to research data, blogs and podcasts.
http://nsereview.org/index.php/NSER
New School Economic Review is open access, student run academic journal at the New School for Social Research in New York.
The 160-page journal, well known for its sustained exploration of the possibility of a ‘Western Marxism’ that avoids some of the major failures of previous Marxist states, publishes every two months from London. ‘All articles published since 1960 are available on the website. Subscribers to the print edition get online access to all articles; two or three from each new issue are available free online.’
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/challenges
‘Challenges (ISSN 2078-1547) is a unique, international, scientific open access journal. It publishes scholarly content which is typically not publishable in traditional research journals, such as research proposals… registered reports… research plans… research or technology ideas, policy studies relating to science and scholarly research’.
http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/
Subscribe for free to the Real-World Economics Review, journal of the World Economics Association. (and read articles online). Sign up to the WEA Young Economists Network. Originally started to critique the mathematical reductionism of contemporary (neoclassical) economics, it has broadened since then. The June 2020 edition is a special issue on The Inequality Crisis.
Skidelsky’s site includes text of his blog posts and speeches and journalistic articles and lists of his books and academic journal articles. The renowned emeritus British economist, famous for his three volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, is still publishing and has declared the reign of monetarism to be over.
https://progressiveeconomyforum.com/blog/
‘The Forum [created in the UK in 2018] opposes austerity and the current ideology and narrative of neoliberalism, campaigns to bring austerity to an end and ensure that austerity is never used again as an instrument of economic policy.’ This site posts blog articles from the academics and economists who belong to the PEF.
https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks/
‘The Marx and Philosophy Review of Books publishes online reviews of books in the area of Marxism and philosophy, interpreted very broadly as regards both ‘Marxism’ and ‘philosophy’.’
https://www.radicalhistoryreview.org/abusablepast/
The Abusable Past is the blog site associated with the Radical History Review.
https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/
Radical Philosophy came out of the 1960s New Left in Britain. A younger generation now publishes the print journal and makes its articles available for free on this site.
‘As a non-sectarian institute made up of researchers, scholar-activists and movement-builders, TNI [the Transnational Institute] uniquely combines a ‘big picture’ analysis with proposals and solutions that are both just and pragmatic. Our capacity to build long-term respectful mutual relationships with strategic social movements is helping put radical ideas into movement.’ Site includes podcasts and articles from what appears to be its annual journal.
https://reviews.history.ac.uk/
Reviews in History free access online journal of reviews of books and digital resources in history. Searchable archives. From the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vhis20
History: Review of New Books is a six times a year print and online journal from US publisher Taylor and Francis. Unfortunately, an individual sub is currently $162 USD/yr, but maybe it is worth it for you.
https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/database/anthropological-review-database-ard/
‘This “book review” database for anthropology contains fulltext reviews of anthropology related literature and media. It also contains citations to reviews published in anthropology journals.’ Says this UCDavis Library site, but clicking on the link to the database generated a 404 error. I retain this reference with the hope that the page will be there in the near future when you look.
https://www.asanet.org/research-and-publications/journals/contemporary-sociology-journal-reviews
Contemporary Sociology is an excellent journal of book reviews published six times a year by the American Sociological Association (ASA). It costs $45USD/yr for ASA members, but you have to pay to join ASA to get it.
https://mobilization.sdsu.edu/
The quarterly print journal Mobilization is the leading (English-language, US-based) journal of analysis of social movements, started by sociologists but publishing work by authors from multiple social science disciplines. No ASA or other professional association membership required. $49.50USD/yr in US, $59.50USD/yr outside US.
https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/
‘The content of Mobilizing Ideas occurs in two threads. The Essay Dialogue is an exchange on a salient topic, featuring insights from scholars and activists, occurring over the course of two months. The Daily Disruption is a blog covering social movements news, from current events to new research by emerging movements scholars.’ From the Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame.
https://www.interfacejournal.net/
The creative commons online Interface: a Journal For and About Social Movements was created in 2009 by activist-scholars inspired by their participation in the Manchester Alternative Futures and Popular Protest conferences, that had papers presented from both activists and academics. ‘Our basic theme is social movements themselves, not the issues they focus on, the forces they are up against or the kind of world they would like to see… We see social movements as key knowledge producers in their own right, and we are interested in particular in reflecting and supporting this: in creating a space for research, theory and education from within social movements and in encouraging a dialogue between academic work on movements and movement practitioners (of course the boundaries are not fixed, and many people are engaged in both).’
A creative commons companion website to the radical geography journal Antipode, celebrating 50 years of publication. Links to Geographer blogs and to radical journals in other disciplines (many of which are listed next).
https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/index
‘ACME is an international journal for critical analyses of the social, the spatial, and the political. Our underlying purpose is to make radical work accessible for free… The journal's purpose is to provide a forum for the publication of critical work about space and place in the social sciences ACME is intended to be international in scope… The editors especially encourage submissions from academic and non-academic sources outside Anglo-America.’
Lawrence and Wishart: Independent Radical Publishing is one of the last non-corporate publishers in the UK. It publishes journals and books from all left radical perspectives, from anarchist to Marxist, and artistic cultural as well as social political. Some creative commons articles from various journals readable on the site. ‘ Lawrence & Wishart was first formed in 1936, as a result of a merger between Martin Lawrence, the Communist Party press, and Wishart Limited, a family owned liberal and anti-fascist publisher. This was a time of considerable turmoil, and the new press was soon immersed in the political and cultural life of the Popular Front, publishing literature, drama and poetry, as well as political economy, working-class history and the classics of Marxism.’ The broad front tradition continues. Select articles readable on the site for free from the current issue of their journals: Socialist History, Soundings, New Formations, Anarchist Studies, Twentieth Century Communism and Renewal.
‘Autonomedia is an autonomous zone for arts radicals in both old and new media. We publish books on radical media, politics and the arts… We also maintain the Interactivist Info Exchange, an online forum for discourse and debate on themes relevant to the books we publish.’
‘b2o: an online journal is an online-only, open access, peer-reviewed [US] journal published by the boundary 2 editorial collective… 2 or 3 times each year, with general issues (often featuring pieces on topics of a particularly immediate nature) as well as special topic issues, many of which focus on topics of particular relevance to the online context, and/or feature pieces that take advantage of the affordances of networked digital media.’ Videos of lectures. Separate b2 journal on literature and culture.
The companion site of journal CITY: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory and Action ‘provides a platform for less formal conversations about cities, the urban experience, human society, culture and politics’. The blog ‘includes interviews, short articles, dialogues, reviews, photography and alternative narratives. You can also find the latest editorials, articles and Table of Contents for current and past issues’.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/
Searchable archive of works by Marx and Engels.
‘Dissident Voice is an internet newsletter dedicated to challenging the distortions and lies of the corporate press and the privileged classes it serves. The goal of Dissident Voice is to provide hard hitting, thought provoking and even entertaining news and commentaries on politics and culture that can serve as ammunition in struggles for peace and social justice.’ From Santa Rosa, California.
The Hampton Institute ‘was founded [in 2013] by Colin Jenkins, a socialist, with the purpose of giving a[n online] platform to everyday, working-class people to theorize, comment, analyze, and discuss matters that exist outside the confines of their daily lives, yet greatly impact them on a daily basis. We are named as a tribute to former Black Panther Party member and revolutionary martyr, Fred Hampton, and also take inspiration from Italian Marxist theorist, Antonio Gramsci, and educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire.’ Plus a bimonthly podcast, the Left Hooked monthly aggregation and review of writings from left publications and free pdfs of eighteen classic left books from Baran and Sweezy’s Monopoly Capital to Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow.
‘MayDay Rooms is an educational charity founded as a safe haven for historical material linked to social movements, experimental culture and the radical expression of marginalised figures and groups. It was set up to safeguard historical material and connect it with contemporary struggle. Its home, the Birmingham Daily Post’s former London office at 88 Fleet Street, was refurbished over 2012-13 to facilitate collective gatherings and allow fluid connections between users of the building, its archives, and various digital platforms for dissemination. It offers communal spaces – a reading room, a meeting and screening room and a canteen – where this material can be explored and researched, to activate its potential in relation to current struggles and informal research.’ So, when in London…
Irreverent and with-it British news and commentary site has a sizable staff of mainly unpaid volunteers. It produces a great mix of articles, videos and podcasts.
http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/
Active blog site of British economist Richard Murphy critiques everything from tax-dodging to economic policies fostering inequality or envioronmental destruction.
https://progressiveeconomyforum.com/
‘The Progressive Economy Forum was founded in May 2018 and brings together a Council of eminent economists and academics to develop a new macroeconomic programme for the UK. The dominant economic ideology, neoliberalism, has served to entrench inequalities, undermine public service provision, and accelerate the pace of environmental breakdown. The 2007-08 financial crisis should have been a watershed moment; instead, the same ideology prevailed unchanged… [W]e publish research and policy proposals, run a wide variety of events, and manage a blog featuring authoritative analysis from progressive economists and academics.’
A left-wing news blog that mainly focuses on UK Labour Party politics from a left perspective. Hated by the powerful on the Labour Party right.
http://www.progressive-economics.ca/
Occasional blogs from ten progressive Canadian economists, mostly working as researchers for unions or progressive research institutes.
The Counterfire is a revolutionary socialist organization in Britain that mostly organizes outside parliamentary politics but also actively supported Corbyn. News, analysis, opinion, history, book reviews, book extracts, videos, podcasts.
‘We’re an independent, online news magazine from B.C. [i.e. British Columbia, Canada] founded in 2003. We’re devoted to fact-driven stories, reporting and analysis that informs and enlivens our democratic conversation. Our reporting has changed laws, started movements and garnered numerous awards.’
http://alternateroutes.ca/index.php/ar
Alternative Routes: A Journal of Critical Research has been publishing since 1977. Based at Carleton University in Ottawa.
The Connexions site based partly at the University of Toronto is a vast searchable archive of directories (of organizations and alternative media sites), articles, documents, guides to library sources and periodicals etc by and about grassroots progressive movements (since 1975).
http://progressivebloggers.ca/progressive-blogger-blogroll/
A long list of links to progressive bloggers in Canada. I cannot vouch for them because I have not yet looked at any of them. I plan to pick out a few that seem especially worthwhile and list them below.
https://canadiandimension.com/
Canadian Dimension has been publishing its anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist left-of-the-parl;iamentary social democratic NDP ('left of in both senses) magazine ‘for an Independent Socialist Canada’ for many decades.
http://tpcp-canada.blogspot.com/
Blog site for the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP) and multiple anti-carceral activist groups in Canada. ‘Commentary that aims to make sense of recent developments in the politics of criminalization and punishment in the Canadian context. Follow @cpepgroup and @tpcpcanada on various social media platforms.’
Perhaps Canada’s most popular center left news commentary site, rabble.ca partners with many unions and other associations to bring together a broad coalition of progressive individuals to read news features, view videos, listen to podcasts, read blogs by the likes of Naomi Klein and Rick Salutin, and participate in on-line forum exchanges on topics du jour.
‘The SP is a Toronto-based organization that supports the rebuilding of the socialist Left in Canada and around the world… We do not propose a fast route out of capitalism, claim a ready alternative to take its place or extol any one Left tendency. We engage the concrete limits and possibilities of emerging struggles within and against capitalism as it is today.’ Toronto-based, the SP sponsors public talks, film screenings, a Capitalism Workshop conference bringing together academics and other intellectuals from diverse Marxist and socialist traditions. The site has news feature videos.
The Guardian newspaper www.theguardian.com
Best progressive-leaning English-language newspaper in the world. It is free, but sign up for a paid online sub, and also make an annual contribution. This is what keeps them independent. The Saturday Guardian has an excellent Review section (click on Culture tab in the app or online). The somewhat more centrist Observer publishes its own review section on Sunday (click on The Observer tab in the Guardian app or online).
New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com
Go to the website to get a paid subscription to the print edition. You can read some articles (and sign up for the blog etc) on the site too. They also publish books, including reprints of classics. The contributors to the Review come from a range of political perspectives, including many with liberal or left ones. You will usually learn a lot from the longish reviews, no matter what the biases of the reviewer are. Most contributors are academics specializing in the area of the book(s)they are reviewing. There is a focus on articles about American politics, society and history, as one might expect, but plenty else besides.
London Review of Books www.lrb.co.uk
Similar to the NYRB (it was a spinoff several decades ago) but also different, because its editors give priority to different topics and books. Quality-wise, the LRB is every bit as good as the NYRB. As you might expect, the LRB has a lot of British or Britain-based contributors, who tend to look at things from more of a British or European vantage point. Get a paid home delivery sub at its website. Like with the NYRB, Its longish reviews address some of the issues raised in the books in enough depth that you learn a great deal without ever having to read most of the books.
The Economist www.economist.com
This Britain-based weekly newsmagazine is the bible for advocacy of free trade, markets and capitalism in general, but it also criticizes real existing capitalism from a pro-capitalist point of view. They have a large staff and resources, and thereby manage to do more routine weekly research into current economic and political issues worldwide than any other English-language magazine. Lots and lots of important and up to date facts get reported here that are not readily available elsewhere. The Economist has been essential reading for people on the Left for a very long time.
Financial Times www.ft.com
This (somewhat expensive) British-based daily financial news newspaper is good for its reporting on current markets, and for its special reports on particular industries, corporations and countries. If you can afford it, or access it via a university or public library, it will be a good supplement to The Economist in keeping up with what is happening in the coming economic Depression.
TEXTS
Coming soon.