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The Progressive Movements Commons

We are rebuilding this site for a variety of
reasons, and apologize for the mess.
Some Links currently DO NOT WORK

A cornucopia of information for progressive individuals and movements
Challenging the Right-Wing Backlash
Notes about this website and its policies
Visit Common Dreams for “News and Views for the Progressive Community”

An effective progressive analysis of the current political situation in the United States
needs to factor in the GRACE model:

Gender – Race – Access – Class – Environment

Table of Contents

  • Top Progressive Sites Challenging Trump
  • Selected Progressive Groups
  • Core Progressive Media List
  • Security & Safety for Activists
  • Defend Civil Liberties
  • Movement Building
  • Chip’s Stash
  • What Does a Social Movement Need to Succeed?

    Slideshow for your Skeptical Friends:  How Trump’s Rhetoric Fuels
    a Bigoted Right-Wing Juggernaut of White Nationalism,
    Heteropatriachy, Violence and Repression 

 Up Front – Our Spotlight On a Great Resource

Author Sarah Jaffe Talks
Activism!

Interviews for Resistance: an ongoing series titled

It’s a syndicated
series of interviews with
organizers, agitators and troublemakers,
available twice weekly as text and podcast.
You can subscribe on iTunes!

Find Dozens of thoughtful and challenging previous interviews here

When Democracy Works video box
Featured Video: When Democracy Works.
Made in 1997 — it’s still as Current as the Election of Donald Trump
‘Social Self-Defense’: Protecting People and Planet
Against Trump and Trumpism
by Jeremy Brecher

 Groups, Organizations, Websites

Key Sources for Challenging Trumpism

Reliable Media: No More Fake News!

Reliable Websites from progressive, liberal, and civil liberties organizations

Public Interest Journalism

Regional/Local

Special Interest Commercial Media

Organizations and Groups by Topic

Democracy and Human Rights

American Promise
–Set reasonable election spending limits
Amnesty International USA
–Defending Prisoners of Conscience
Demos
–An equal say and an equal chance for all
Facing History and Ourselves
–Resources for Teaching about Genocides
Open Democracy
–Global Information Network
People for the American Way
–For a diverse democratic society

Peace & Antiwar

Civil Liberties
Why should progressives support civil liberties and free speech for all?

Sustainability and Environmental Protection

Other Reliable Progressive Groups

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Black Lives Matter
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Media & Democracy
Center for New Community
Changelab / and Scot Nakagawa’s Race Files Blog
Class Matters
Color of Change
Day Laborer Organizing Network
Domestic Workers Alliance
Guestworkers’ Alliance
Movimiento Cosecha
Highlander Research and Education Center
Institute for Southern Studies
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Move On
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Children’s Advocacy Center  (Has Affiliates) 
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Lawyers Guild (Has Affiliates)
National LGBTQ Task Force

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
National Organization for Women
National Urban Indian Family Coalition
Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress
Our Revolution
People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
Political Research Associates
Race Forward / Colorlines
South Asian Americans Leading Together
Asian Freedom NetworkSoutheast
Spirit House Project
Showing Up for Racial Justice
United for a Fair Economy
United for Peace & Justice
US Human Rights Network (Member Groups)
Working America
Working Families Party
Zinn Education Project:  People’s History 

Regional & State

International

United Nations

–Global Sustainable Development Goals
–What are Human Rights?
–Universal Declaration of Human Rights
–Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Urgent Care:
A Section on Safety and Security

→ A more extensive set of resources is curated at Political Research Associate

Defending Our Civil Liberties:

U.S. Constitution: Amendment 1.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.
Click above to read a lot more about what it means

Remember: The First Amendments protects ideas,
but not actions that break laws
-Why should progressives support civil liberties and free speech for all?

When libertarians are our strategic or tactical allies!
{in the queue}

Jump to list of civil liberties groups

 Movement Building

The Basics

When movement leaders create a coherent and persuasive interrelated package
linking a group’s Ideology, Frames, and Narratives it helps build
powerful social movements on the Left and Right

Race, Gender, Class – try to separate them
and you help build systems of oppression.

Is Organizing Enough? Race, Gender, and Union Culture
by Bill Fletcher Jr., Institute for Policy Studies and Richard W. Hurd, Cornell University

Race, Gender, and “Essentialism”
Thoughtful analysis from Colette Guillaumin
from her 1995 book Racism, Sexism, Power and Ideology. London: Routledge.

Consider Using the “Building Human Rights” Framework as an Inclusive
Umbrella Concept for Outreach and Coalition Building

Organizing to Block Trump’s Plans

Start with this excellent slideshow from Organizing Upgrade
> Post-Election Slideshow

Then Read:
‘Social Self-Defense’: Protecting People and Planet
Against Trump and Trumpism
by Jeremy Brecher

 Research Resources

Strategic Rhetoric for Progressives
Avoid the phrase: “Violent Radicalization”
—WHY?
“Radicalization” deals with the relative position of ideas and ideologies
while “Violence” is an act. Thus the term “Violent Radicalization” undermines First Amendment guarantees of free speech, and masks the wave of surveillance and political repression
being carried out by the US government. Avoid using the term “Radicalization”
in a pejorative sense in the current political climate.
 .
Avoid “Extremism” Replace with (The Target) and (The Act or Methodology)
—Examples: Racist Terror, Sexist Rhetoric, Islamophobic Articles, Antisemitic Posts,
Homophobic Assault, Stigmatizing the Disabled, Stereotyping Mexicans
—WHY?
“Extremism” is a term used to deligitimize any ideas outside the political Center;
and to suggest systems of oppression are not something we all do need to confront.
 .
Avoid “Hate Crimes” Replace with “Bias Crimes” or “Ethnoviolence.”
—WHY?
Because most of us tend to think those people that “hate” are not like us,
We assume we have nothing in common with “haters” and so we do not confront
our own–often unintentional and/or unconscious–complicity in
existing systems of oppression.If all you do is send donations to organizations that fight  “Hate” or “Extremism”
You are part of the problem we all need to face

How Trump uses the rhetorical Tools of Fear:
systems of oppression in the United States are fueled by
Prejudice, Bigotry,  Supremacism, and Ethnonationalism
which create fear and anxiety about losing power and
privilege in a society under stress

When Trump’s rhetoric is “Scripted Violence”

 


Best Websites for Researching &
Challenging Right-Wing Movements

Since 1981
Political Research Associates
The Premiere Progressive Website for Studying
Right-Wing Movements and Institutions
Home  —  Reports —  Public Eye Magazine

Read Stories Exposed by
The Center for Media and Democracy
Using Investigative Journalism

Major Focus Sections

Special Investigative Projects
Major Sections

PRWatch
SourceWatch
Outsourcing
Business Chambers  — (US Chamber of Commerce)

Right Web:
Tracking militarists’ efforts to influence U.S. foreign policy

Scholar Bob Altemeyer

People for the American Way: Right-Wing Watch

Invaluable Collection of Lists of Right-Wing:
Organizations–  People  –Topics –  Reports

American United for Separation of Church and State

Respecting Religious Freedom while Confronting
Bigotry from Religious Organizations

Southern Poverty Law Center
Most extensive and reliable information on the
Ultra-Right, especially White Supremacists, Misogynists,
Antisemites, Islamophobes, and Homophobes
Center for Right-Wing Studies
University of California at Berkeley has a huge physical archive
Right-Wing Populism in America
Online excerpts and many expanded resources from the
book by Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons  that
predicted the Tea Party and Trump

Small Populism Chart

Click Here
to enlarge on a new page this nifty chart
which explains Right-Wing Populism
and the “Producerist” Narrative”

Building Human Rights Network

(Currently Under Construction)

  • Children’s Rights
  • Democracy
  • Civil Rights
  • Disability Rights
  • Human Rights
  • Economic Justice
  • Elders Rights
  • Equality
  • Food Justice
  • Gender Justice
  • Healthcare Rights
  • Housing
  • Human
  • Immigrant
  • Indigenous
  • Legal
  • LGBTQ
  • Liberty
  • Media Democracy
  • Planetary Survival
  • Prisoner Justice
  • Public Education
  • Racial Justice
  • Reproductive Justice
  • Student Rights
  • Union Rights
  • Voting Rights
  • Water Justice
  • Women’s Rights
  • Workers Justice
  • World Peace
  • Youth

Major Introductory Overview of:
The Ideological Roots of the Republican Party
and its Shift to the Right in the 2016 Election

To successfully counter Trumpism, progressive organizers and
organizations need to expose the ideologies behind the Trump
campaign, and also show how they are rooted in “mainstream” US society.

Abstract
Introduction
White Nationalism
Christian Nationalism
Heteropatriarchy
Neoliberalism
Conclusion
References

This study is by Alex DiBranco and Chip Berlet who
are busy writing a chapter on this for Routledge Press,
so please respect the copyright.

Coming Soon:

  • Rugged Individualism  {in the queue}
  • Aggressive Militarism
  • Planetary Resource Exploitation

Bibliographies:

Chip Berlet’s
Unorganized Reading List: ‘Trump, Populism, and White Nationalism‘
built on the WorldCat website. These are the books I frequently refer to
when researching right-wing politics in the US.

A slightly out of date but nifty
Searchable database of books about right-wing reality
by critics, scholars, and participants —-
Developed for the Political Research Associates library

Multimedia

At Organizing Upgrade

At Research for Progress

Video
Audio
Slideshows
Bibliographies
Charts& Diagrams
 Timelines

Training Guide Track

Under Construction by Strelnicov & Friends at
Research for Progress

Resources for Defending Democracy and Human Rights

The FAQ Files:
The Truth is Filed Here

What are the Different Sectors of the US Right?
A Chart from Political Research Associates

{in the queue}

Armed Citizens Militias
“Cultural Marxism”
Alt-Right
Dominionism
Fascism
Populism
Right-Wing Populism
— As aprecursor feature of Fascism
— Core elements
——Producerist White Nationalism
——Demonization

& Scapegoating
——Conspiracism
——Apocalyptic

Narratives & Millennial Visions

Sucker Punch of Right-Wing Populism

Right-Wing Movements & Groups

Key Institutions and Think Tanks
Cato Institute
Heritage Foundation
—Conservatism
—Patriot Movement
——Tea Party Movement
——John Birch Society
——Oath Keepers *
——Sovereign Citizens *
—Conspiracism on the Right
——Key Targets
———Saul Alinsky
———Collectivism
———Democrats & Liberals
———LGBTQ Community
———Obama linked to Hitler & Stalin
———Socialism
———Voter Fraud
———Welfare Recipients
Tools of Fear
—Demonization
—Stereotyping
—Discrimination
—Prejudice
White Nationalism
—as Ideology
—White Supremacy *
——as Ideology
——as Organized Movement *
———Ku Klux Klan Groups*
———NeoNazi Movements *

*Often intersecting with Ultra-Right
***Part of the Ultra-Right

Citizen Journalism Training

Citizen Journalism Training Home Page

  • Fact Checking
  • Getting Started – Keeping Current
  • Don’t Limit Your Audience
  • How to Interview
  • Protecting Your Sources
  • What is Investigative Journalism?
  • The Muckraking Tradition
  • Conspiracism is Not Investigative Journalism!
  • What is Power Structure Research?
  • Using Style Sheets for Publishing

Other Training Websites

On Radical Copy
Editing by Alex Kapitan

Chip Berlet’s Resource Stash

Research for Progress Website & Blog

What are the Tools of Fear Used by Trump?
From Bigotry to Scapegoating to Violence

How Organized Wealth Keeps Screwing U.S.
A Slightly Snarky History of the 1%

Given the trends we are facing, all of us who want to defend
human rights and democracy have to fight on four fronts. We must
organize against:

  • The rise of reactionary populism, nativism, & fascism with
    roots in White supremacy, xenophobia,  Islamophobia,
    antisemitism, conspiracist subversion myths, and the many
    mutating offspring of the Freemason/Jewish banker conspiracy
    theories.
  • Theocracy and other anti–democratic forms of religious
    fundamentalism, around the world, which in the US is based in
    White Anglo-Saxon Protestant with its subtexts of elitist
    hierarchy, patriarchy and heterosexual privilege.
  • Authoritarian state actions in the form of militarism and
    interventionism abroad and government repression and erosion of
    civil liberties at home.
  • The antidemocratic pillaging by the greedster elites of
    organized wealth and rapacious multinational capital
    (neoliberalism) with their attack on the standard of living of
    working people around the globe.

The Tools of Fear & Systems of
Oppression

Systems of Oppression in the United States that are fueled by prejudiced ideas,
and which generate acts of discrimination and violence
Racism
Sexism
Classism
Ableism
Homophobia
Xenophobia
Nativism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia 
Religious Triumphalism
(and many more)


Forms of Discrimination:
Actions and Attitudes that create Systems of Oppression

Individual — i.e. person to person

Structural (defacto) — i.e. within
kinship, family, and/or societal structures.

Systemic (defacto) — i.e. political
systems (social democracy, fascism), economic systems

Institutional (defacto)  —  i.e.
Fox News, Tea Parties, John Birch Society, Heritage Foundation,
Free Congress Foundation

Legal (dejure) — i.e. Courts, Police,
Parole officers, FBI, etc.

These can occur singly or in combinations.

* defacto: discrimination enforced as a matter of fact without
being tied to a specific law, and sometimes illegal.
* dejure: discrimination enforced by being tied to a
specific law.

Note that the First Amendment protects prejudice in the form of
ideas without necessarily being tied to concrete acts, unless
these acts break an existing law.
Prejudice is Ideas — Discrimination is Acts
The First Amendment protects Ideas

Heroes Know Which
Villains to Kill:
How Coded Rhetoric by Demagogues
Incites Scripted Violence Against Scapegoats
by Chip Berlet

An Inclusive Formula for Defining Oppression

    Prejudice
+ Power
—————-
= Oppression

This simple formula allows us to
discuss  interrelated  “Systems of Oppression”
that keep us apart but also explore the intesectionality
that could unite us into a powerful collective movement
for justice, democracy, and human rights.

Chip’s Favorite Hoax Quote
Mussolini Said What?

The Hoax Quote on Corporatism
ATTRIBUTED to Mussolini

Seek
Peace
Nurture Nature
Challenge Oppression
Build Human Rights
Defend Democracy
Demand Justice
Resist Repression


Notes on this website and its policies

This website features progressive organizations
and tends to avoid links to Inside-the-Beltway groups, with overly
close ties to the Democratic Party or mainstream liberal
organizations, because of their lurch to right in terms of
ideologies, analysis, and action plans since the 1970s.

There are hundreds of progressive organizations and movements
across the US. This page is a small curated collection of links
that highlights only a few of them.

Not listed here are progressive groups that offer training for a
fee, many of which are excellent. However free online resource
materials from these groups are linked when appropriate. We
generally do not link to information behind a pay wall.

This website was originally developed in 2008 as part of a set of
webtools demonstration sites as a way to urge progressive
movements to build collaborative online resources to fight the
right. It is currently is curated by Chip Berlet. In 2019 it will
be turned over to a consortium of progressive organizations who
will curate it in a collaborative manner.