Organizing in the New Gilded Age: Harsh Truths & Humble Lessons on the Road to Radical Hope

Organizing in the New Gilded Age: Harsh Truths & Humble Lessons on the Road to Radical Hope provides a penetrating historical comparison of organizers of the 1980s in the United States forced to work under neo-liberalism, and today's organizers laboring under Trump's authoritarianism.

Using themes from his classic book, The Other Side of Organizing, published in 1982 after the collapse of progressive organizing and the rise of Reagan, Steve Burghardt outlines the "harsh" truths that today's organizers and policy analysts must confront: increased inequity, decreases in community cohesion, and long-term cohesion of right-wing Christian nationalists. Organizing strategies have evolved over the last 40 years. Burghardt outlines the humble lessons of an emphasis on identity politics and horizontalism, which was once understandable. Today, however, this focus breeds infighting rather than unified campaigns which are capable of building powerful social movements.

The work draws on over 50 years of organizing experience and classroom lessons–often provided by students–to detail the ways organizers can improve their own tactical flexibility, deepen their personal comfort with others' social differences, and describe how to express their values through their work. Through these personal tools, organizers can better "embody the change they seek," turning a trite phrase into meaningful tactics capable of movement building. While providing the contours of a hopeful agenda for the future, Organizing in the New Gilded Age is clear-eyed about the dangers of authoritarianism and climate catastrophe that remain ever-present. In the context of these existential threats, Burghardt closes with a final exploration of why "radical hope" may be required in the years ahead.

Steve Burghardt is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at Silberman School of Social Work. He is an eight-time award winning professor of community organizing, political economy, and anti-oppression practice for over 50 years. Burghardt began organizing at age seventeen and has continued in his social justice work ever since.