Bold Ideas for a New Progressive Majority

This summer, IPS — together with The Nation, Public Citizen, and the Wallace Global Fund — hosted our second annual Wallace Symposium on the theme of “Bold Ideas For A New Progressive Majority.”

As Scott Wallace said in his opening remarks, “American fascism is here.” Our goal with this symposium is to animate a movement that not only resists fascism but presents a compelling alternative to both authoritarianism and the status quo. “We all know how to fight back,” said IPS executive director Tope Folarin. “But defense alone is exhausting, and defense alone cannot deliver the world we need. At some point, we must step beyond reaction and begin the hard, beautiful work of envisioning.”

Throughout the day, we gathered panelists from among elected leaders, movement allies, policy experts, writers, and more to do that envisioning. The result was a flourishing of ideas that are worth pursuing — and recorded on video and in our transcripts below. (You can also watch the whole thing in a YouTube playlist.)

Panel Roundup

In a panel on creating an economy for working people, Saket Soni shared about his work organizing immigrant disaster response workers — and a vision that our social fabric can be rebuilt through the literal act of rebuilding. Erica Smiley laid out how the labor movement can democratize the economy even when the opposition controls “the citadel.” And Faiz Shakir challenged progressives to think beyond even worthwhile policies like Medicare for All and into new ownership ideas — what if rural communities owned their own health systems, rather than big corporations?

In our discussion about a just climate transition, panelists Ben Beachy, Johanna Bozuwa, and Aru Shiney-Ajay talked about how to erode the influence of fossil fuel corporations and build power for a real climate movement. Their insight? We can focus not just on jobs or emissions, but on affordability and quality of life — like Zohran Mamdani’s push for free buses in New York. 

And in our panel on creating a new role for the U.S. in the world, Phyllis Bennis shared how ordinary people can be the “enforcers” of international law even when their governments won’t. Cathy Feingold talked about the role of the international labor movement in creating solidarity across borders. And Keane Bhatt shared some inside stories about how antiwar advocacy won real victories in unlikely places in recent years. 

In a remarkable panel on relational organizing in small towns and rural communities, our new Rural Organizing Fellow Kate Hess Pace shared how she’s been able to bring folks together in southern Indiana by creating local entry points for advocacy and community. “We need a lot more things lower to the ground that people can join and be a part of,” she said. “I don’t see a world where we get to the real change we need where we don’t first have the majority of the country in our imperfect political homes that they’re shaping, building, and belonging to.”

And finally, in a panel on expanding democracy featuring Lisa Gilbert and Osita Nwanevu, panelists challenged progressives to get serious about culture, take up local issues that really impact people’s lives, and dream big about solving the structural challenges in undemocratic institutions like the Supreme Court and Senate.

Along the way, our New Mexico Fellow Feleecia Guillen talked about mobilizing young activists around powerful, winnable campaigns. “We’re not the leaders of tomorrow — we’re the organizers of right now,” she said. And our National Priorities Project outreach coordinator Alliyah Lusuegro shared about her work connecting the immigrant rights and climate justice movements to the movement against militarism. “Militarism comes at a cost to all our communities and isn’t making us safer,” she said.

We also got special remarks from progressive Reps. Jamie Raskin and Pramila Jayapal, who shared rousing visions of connecting people across divides. “Let’s show our country just how beautiful it is when black, brown, white, indigenous, poor, rich, immigrant, non-immigrant, rural, urban, trans, gay, straight, are all able to live with true freedom,” concluded Rep. Jayapal. “That’s our power” — a “love that is much, much greater than all the torrents of cruelty that are around us.”

Of course, that’s just a small sampling from a day that’s well worth revisiting. We view the videos and transcripts below not as the end of our work on this symposium, but the beginning — and we look forward to working with the movements that will put these bold ideas into practice. 

Fascism is “an infectious disease, and we must all be on our guard against intolerance, bigotry and the pretension of invidious distinction,” warned the late Henry A. Wallace in 1944. “But if we put our trust in the common sense of common men and ‘with malice toward none and charity for all’ go forward on the great adventure of making political, economic, and social democracy a practical reality, we shall not fail.”

Videos and Transcripts

Beginning the “Hard, Beautiful Work of Envisioning”

Opening remarks at our second annual Wallace Symposium, with IPS director Tope Folarin and members of the Wallace family.

Watch now

Creating an Economy that Empowers Working People

Panelists discuss how to bring democracy into our economy.

Watch now

Forging a New Coalition for a Just Climate Transition

Panelists discuss building a climate movement around jobs, affordability, and getting real stuff done.

Watch now

Rep. Jamie Raskin on Standing in “Titanic Opposition” to Authoritarianism

He calls for D.C. and Puerto Rican statehood, plus new amendments to enshrine voting rights.

Watch now

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “Strength Always Emerges in the Times of Worst Crisis”

The former Progressive Caucus chair reflects on how we can turn our anger and grief into a brighter future.

Watch now

Reaching Rural Communities Through Relational Organizing

Indiana organizer Kate Hess Pace shares how people can build real democracy at the local level by tuning out national politics — and listening to each other instead.

Watch now

Envisioning a New Role for the U.S. in the World

Panelists discuss how diverse movements of real people can actually change U.S. foreign policy.

Watch now

Defending and Reimagining Democracy

Panelists outline a progressive agenda for culture, the economy, and the courts.

Watch now