While the history of the left is a long story of idealism and determination, it has also been, in the traditional view, a story of movements that failed to gain support from mainstream America. In American Dreamers, Michael Kazin tells a new history: one in which many of these movements, although they did not fully succeed on their own terms, nonetheless made lasting contributions to American society that led to equal opportunity for women, racial minorities, and homosexuals; the celebration of sexual pleasure; multiculturalism in the media and the schools; and the popularity of books and films with altruistic and antiauthoritarian messages.
With movements for economic and social justice rising globally and across America, please join us for us for a fascinating discussion of the origins, goals, and legacy of the American left.
PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP is a lecture and discussion series founded by the Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress, focused on the history and intellectual traditions of progressivism and liberalism. The goal of PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP is to provide an informal forum for budding activists and professionals to explore the political values and theoretical debates within the broader progressive tradition and to apply those lessons to contemporary political discourse.
The speakers, lectures, and debates covered within the series are designed to examine why we believe what we believe as progressives, who the most important thinkers and icons are within the movement’s history, where progressives differ on intellectual grounds, and what the theoretical foundations are for many of our current policy and activism efforts.
We aim to help young people and activists engage their traditions not just in Washington but in other similar programs with progressives in communities across the country. As the program develops, we hope to help others launch PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP salons in cities and towns across the country in local settings that are relaxed, inviting, informative, deliberative, and open to new ideas.