Red Emma’s

A new progressive generation is on the rise in the United States, reflected in the mushrooming rolls of the Democratic Socialists of America (90,000 mostly twentysomething members), Marxist explainers in Teen Vogue, and perhaps most famously of all, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Rise of a New Left is the first book to look closely at this new politics.

Propelled by interviews with AOC and the other key figures and organizations who have shaken up American politics, the book includes portraits of groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, the Sunrise Movement, and Justice Democrats, explaining who they are, where they come from, and what they want. Investigating the panoply of strategies employed by the new movements and their relationship to politicians from Bernie Sanders to Nancy Pelosi, the book describes how the generational focus on insurgent electoral campaigns both aims to transform the Democratic Party and threatens to be captured by it.

Written with panache by a member of this rising generation, this book immerses the reader in a youth culture the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Sixties.

The Rise of a New Left is an engrossing behind-the-scenes account of our decade's breakout political movement. It is also an invaluable second draft of history that readers and scholars will consult for many years to understand the opportunities and challenges of socialist organizing in the first decades of the 21st century.  Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, author of The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen

Raina Lipsitz is the author of The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics. She writes about politics and culture. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera America, The Appeal, The Atlantic, The Conversationalist, The Nation, and The New Republic, among other publications.

Larry Stafford is the Executive Director of Progressive Maryland. He found his lifetime passion for organizing at the age of 17 as a student volunteer and eventually as a staff member for ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). There he fought against the closure of low-income apartment complexes in some of the most marginalized communities within Prince George’s County and registered hundreds of voters. He has since worked on numerous electoral and issue-based campaigns around the country including leading field efforts for races up and down the ballot from Gubernatorial contests to City Council races. He became Executive Director of Progressive Maryland in 2015 where he has helped grow the organizations budget by 700%, led the organizations electoral efforts which have reached over 500,000 Maryland voters, and elected scores of progressive candidates including 8 who defeated established incumbents. Larry also leads the organizations 501c3 arm the Progressive Maryland Education Fund which has shifted the policy landscape during his tenure resulting in victories for working people such as a $15 minimum wage, paid sick leave, police accountability, and publicly financed elections. Larry is committed to investing in the power and potential of Progressive Maryland's working class membership base and continuing to win progressive changes at the local, state, and national level.

Charly Carter has played a key role in multiple organization advancing progressive politics and leadership development in Maryland and beyond, including Working Families Party, Step Up Maryland, and the Democracy Initiative.

Moderated by John Duda, executive director of The Real News Network and Red Emma's worker-owner.