Who we are
The status quo is not working! If all the suffering of the past decades was not a clear enough indication, the most recent election cycles in the US and Western Europe offer undisputed evidence. More alarmingly, progressive thought has very little to offer by way of new solutions that move beyond the ideas produced in the middle of the Twentieth century. The poverty of imagination spans all aspects of our politics: from economics to political rights, to global relations, and to the nature of the political system itself.
We need a new vision for a new future!
The Center for Progressive Research (CPR) is an invitation to disrupt normal politics. We are creating a space for progressive scholars, researchers, and activists to build on their research and experience to produce a new progressive alternative.
The project is built on reanimating the traditions of organic and embedded intellectuals as key parts of the history of progressive thought to imagine and create new plans and alternatives that move beyond tinkering with the status quo.
Unlike the think-tank and consultancy industry, built primarily on thinking within the space of ordinary politics and tinkering with the status quo, this project embraces the possibility of disruption. We believe that unleashing our imagination and our ability to think of a new world in solidarity and community can create the alternatives that can guide us beyond the status-quo-in-crisis
CPR is built on three main principles:
Embracing the long-term: towards radical and transformative thought
We believe that intentionally long-term thinking is necessary to disrupt the cycle of “tinkering” aimed at the preservation of the status quo. Long-term thinking and planning do not negate the necessity of immediate action, but they hold a place for the radical and transformative and for the depth and slowness needed to create serious alternatives.
Digging Deep: Prioritizing critical and theoretical research
CPR aims to unleash the radical potential of deep and theoretical research. It embraces the belief that “basic” and theoretical research is necessary for producing knowledge beyond recycling the status quo, and for building a disruptive movement that can offer serious and innovative alternatives.
Embeddedness: towards localized research
CPR transcends the artificial dichotomy between theoretical and theoretically-informed research, on the one hand, and embedded and community-accountable research, on the other. CPR invests in embedded research that is connected to specific communities, attuned to their needs, invested in their priorities, and accountable for their daily struggles.
Contact us
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