The Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress is pleased to announce the launch of PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP, a new lecture and discussion series 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.
For the inaugural DC PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP series, Professor Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University, will discuss the history of populism and how populist ideas shaped 19th and 20th century progressivism, liberalism, and conservatism.