How can radical municipalists build within and alongside the current wave of municipal socialism?

A program of the Municipalism Learning Series

This November, grassroots organizers will reflect in a roundtable discussion on how we can leverage the current wave of local electoral victories by democratic socialist candidates into lasting movements for community power.

During the disintegrating time of the second Trump administration, left-wing forces have directed much of their efforts to the local scale. Under the banner of “democratic socialism,” these campaigns have scored unprecedented electoral victories in city government, disrupting conventional wisdom within the Democratic Party and creating tangible improvements to quality of life through efforts such as the Mamdani administration’s recent two-year moratorium on rent hikes, congestion pricing, and plans for free, universal childcare. These breakthroughs in transformative local politics deserve partial credit for the opening in political imagination and political expectations that we saw the fruits of in the midterm elections.

As radical municipalists, we recognize the present moment as a unique terrain of struggle. While celebrating these important local victories, we also acknowledge the inherent dangers and contradictions of progressive governance in a context like ours of weak grassroots movements. What does it mean for the possibilities of building radical democracy that progressive movements have taken up local government as a strategic terrain? What are the opportunities, risks, compromises and constraints? And how can we take advantage of this important moment to create a situation where people are transforming not only what local government is doing but how local government works?

In approaching these questions, we seek not a singular answer or ideological line, but a diversity of perspectives based on the insight of on the ground organizers. Together, we will advance our collective thinking about the theory, strategy, and program necessary for real popular power.

Our Panelists

Eleanor Finley (moderator) is a political anthropologist and activist who has been speaking and writing about social ecology, radical municipalism, and democratic confederalism for more than a decade. Her book, Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Rojava and Beyond, provides a beginner's introduction to social ecology both as a body of ideas and as a global constellation of social movements. She has recently lectured at George Mason University and serves as a board member at the Institute for Social Ecology. She completed her PhD in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2025.

Rev. Rae Huang is a community organizer, ordained Presbyterian minister, and advocate for racial justice and grassroots democracy. For over two decades, she has worked alongside communities to organize for more equitable and inclusive policies. She currently serves as Deputy Director of Housing NOW! California, where she works with advocates and organizers across the state to strengthen tenant protections and advance social housing. Rae recently ran for Mayor of Los Angeles, bringing her experience in community organizing and a belief that local government can be more responsive, accountable, and rooted in the needs of everyday people.

Daniel Denvir is a founder and co-chair of Reclaim RI, a housing justice organization in Rhode Island. He is also the host of The Dig podcast (Jacobin) and the author of All-American Nativism: How the Bipartisan War on Immigrants Explains Politics as We Know It (Verso Books). His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Vox, Jacobin, The Guardian's Comment Is Free, Al Jazeera America, VICE, and The New Republic.

Arthur Pye is a writer, community organizer, and popular educator based in Seattle, WA. After spending a year in Northeast Syria studying the Rojava revolution, he has worked to build international solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement as a member of the Emergency Committee for Rojava. He is a board member of the Institute for Social Ecology, where he leads the Neighbor Union Cohort, a training program for community organizers. He is also a co-founder of the Neighborhood Solidarity Network. His writing can be found in Strange Matters magazine.

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