Research

The Pioneer Institute

Privatizing the Common Wealth

Foreword By Patricia Jehlen State Representative - Somerville, MA Ideas are powerful. The relentless, well-funded, and well-connected efforts of the Pioneer Institute to “change the direction of the wind” politically in Massachusetts are well…

Report

The Pioneer Institute: Privatizing the Common Wealth

The Pioneer Institute was founded in 1988 to change the direction of public policy in Massachusetts by influencing opinion-shapers, policy-makers, and the public. Modeled on the conservative Manhattan Institute and Britain’s Institute of Economic…

Tilting at Faith-Based Windmills

Over a Year in the Life of President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative

It may seem like several lifetimes ago, but it was only on January 29, 2001, when President Bush unveiled a cornerstone of his domestic policy agenda—“charitable choice.” Amidst great fanfare and surrounded by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy,…

Immigrants and the Environment

Immigrants and the Environment The anti-immigrant Right has appealed to those who value the environment, blaming immigrants for problems of pollution, overcrowding, energy shortages and the very quality of life in the United States. Sometimes…

Article

Encountering and Countering Political Repression

When you’re trying to wash the tear gas out of your eyes with a bottle of spring water, it’s the wrong time to learn about political repression. So reading this section now has a practical value. Surveillance, infiltration, harassment, media…

Rights for Some

The Erosion of U.S. Democracy

A black sign that says "Abuse of power comes as no surprise."

Introduction Right-wing leaders often appropriate progressive themes by calling for rule by “the people,” equal opportunity, and “equality” feminism. Their rhetoric has convinced many voters that the Right offers a more fair and direct form of…

Article

The Producerist Narrative in Repressive Right-Wing Populism

Calls to rally the virtuous “producing classes” against evil “parasites” at both the top and bottom of society is a tendency called producerism. It is a conspiracist narrative used by repressive …

Article

Dynamics of Bigotry

Article

For Faith and Family

Christian Right Advocacy at the United Nations

A cresent moon sculpture that says "Beijing '95"

Since the United Nations held the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in September 1995, women’s rights and human rights groups in the US and throughout the world have worked to “bring the Beijing platform home.” Adopted by consensus…

Article

Reproducing Patriarchy

Reproductive Rights Under Siege

Protester at Rally for Reproductive Rights Chicago Illinois, sign says: Our Bodies, Our Right to Choose, Our Decision to make not yours!"

A woman’s ability to control her reproductive decisions—her reproductive rights—involves more than her right to safe and legal abortion. Reproductive rights encompass the right to bear and raise children, the right to access adequate reproductive…

Article

Challenging the Right

Towards an Effective Response The new conservatism has been successful because it has built a movement that serves as an umbrella under which political, religious, cultural, electoral, and economic sectors of conservatism and reaction can…

Takin’ It to the States: The Rise of Conservative State-Level Think Tanks

Like the famously premature announcement of the death of Mark Twain, reports of the decline of the Right in politics and public policy have been greatly exaggerated. Epitomizing the hidden strength of the Right are a growing number of well-funded,…

Clinton, Conspiracism, and the Continuing Culture War: What is Past is Prologue

The roar was visceral. A torrent of sound fed by a vast subconscious reservoir of anger and resentment. Repeatedly, as speaker after speaker strode to the podium and denounced President Clinton, the thousands in the…

Right Woos Left

Preface & Acknowledgements “Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite.” –George Seldes, You Can’t Do That, 1938 This report was first issued on December 20, 1990 as a…

Right Woos Left

Populist party, LaRouchite, and other neo-fascist overtures to progressives, and why they must be rejected.

Repression and Ideology

The Legacy of Discredited Centrist/Extremist Theory

How a discredited social science model fuels efforts to expand government surveillance, infiltration, and disruption. And how police justify labeling dissenters, demonstrators, and ordinary Americans as “Terrorists.”

Repression and Ideology: The Legacy of Discredited Centrist/Extremist Theory

Repression and Ideology: The Legacy of Discredited Centrist/Extremist Theory By Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons Table of Contents: Introduction Part One:Two Flawed Theories…

Rethinking Populism

Article

Calculated Compassion

How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right’s Attack on Democracy

The discredited practice of “ex-gay therapy” is at the center of today’s culture wars, with the Christian Right seeking to …

The Patriot and Armed Militia Movements

Groups that have consciously and unconsciously adopted the countersubversion model promoted by centrist/extremist theory were quick to call for increased government power to fend off the perceived threat to law and order posed by the armed militia…

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