Fellow Pen-l'ers this may have been posted already by someone but I don't
think it will hurt to forward it again.
With the little preface by Aronson. CDV is loosely affiliated with DSA
but aims to be independent and to draw in other Left (democratic
socialist) voices. The Following is from Ron Aronson's post:
I'm pleased to post the description of DEMOCRATIC VALUES, our Guilford Press
Book Series. Please post this on other lists you may subscribe to -
sociology, political science, economics, etc., and please email any
suggested book topics and/or authors.
I'd be happy to discuss any ideas with you.
Proposals are invited. They should include:
-Your basic argument, the breadth of the material you intend to cover,
and the point of view you will bring to the work;
-a paragraph or so describing the other texts that are available on
the topic--please include their strengths and weaknesses, as well
as what you see differentiating the volume you propose from those
others;
-a table of contents and a more detailed version of the same in which
each chapter is summarized in a paragraph;
-an estimated length and date of completion.
Along with the prospectus send your current CV, and either a sample chapter
or a writing sample penned at a general audience level.
The description follows.
The Center for Democratic Values
Over the past 20 years, the American Left has become marginal to public
debate in the United States as the center of political gravity has shifted
to the Right. Discussions have been taking place - about how best to manage
the economy, the role of markets, the place of government, the rights of
minorities, what are the nation's shared values - without the participation
of Left intellectuals, whether academic, professional or activist. The
Right's success is due not only to superior financial resources and
organization; and not only because it has become more successful at
harnessing new techniques and technologies. Above all, at a time of
profound economic and social insecurity, the Right has succeeded in
addressing and voicing popular anxieties for its own elitist and
undemocratic ends while the Left has scarcely been part of the discussion.
In order to rejoin and reshape the discussion, the Left will have to clarify
and more effectively express our values and our ideas in public debates.
But the Left seems to have lost its sense of direction, vision, and
conviction, its confident sense of a historical, political, and moral
mission. We face the task of rethinking our visions, models, and programs -
right down to who we are and what motivates us.
Recognizing this, we are joining together to create the Center for
Democratic Values. The Center is a network of academics, professionals and
activists committed to gathering, exploring and rethinking progressive ideas
on society, the economy, and government and making them part of the
mainstream conversation. We will do this through clarifying our starting
points and rethinking our positions on key issues, through organizing
ourselves to make our presence felt, and through mastering the skills and
techniques needed for reaching the mainstream.
DEMOCRATIC VALUES: A Guilford/Center for Democratic Values Series
DEMOCRATIC VALUES is a book series designed to shift mainstream debate to
the left in the United States through the clear presentation of alternative
analyses and policy proposals. Series titles will focus on current social
and political issues as well as questions of values and culture. Specific
volumes will address issues such as: the next steps for the labor movement;
affirmative action and the assault on civil rights; corporate domination of
culture; and foreign policy in the 21st century. Certain volumes will
address more general topics such as: the role of government, the nature of
the common good; the fate and future of feminism; and the future of the
Left.The series seeks to help lay the groundwork for the ideas and the
political program of the next Left.
To do so, we must not simply recirculate our conventional wisdom but rethink
what the Left is today, and what it can be tomorrow - what are our shared
values and beliefs, what kinds of changes we advocate, what are our
critiques and programs, even who we are. And as we do this, we also need to
learn,once again, how to talk to ordinary Americans in words and ideas that
relate to their lives, concerns, and experience.
As these books are targeted to a mainstream audience, they will be
nonspecialist in orientation, written in direct and accessible language,
short (150-180 printed pages), and with a minimal scholarly pretentions. We
expect to use them to generate policy debates in Washington and within trade
unions, to provide new ideas and tools for political activists, and to
stimulate intellectual ferment on campuses. They will be aggressively
promoted to DSA's 12,000 members (through DSA's magazine, The Democratic
Left, and in membershipmailings, as well as at conventions and meetings).
An estimated 2000 members of DSA teach in colleges or universities, and we
expect manyof them either to adopt our books for class use or to recommend
them to their students for outside reading. We would also hope that some of
these colleagues will participate with DSA locals and student groups in
arranging author's tours.
Each book should:
- describe the problem or issue in depth and detail, including real-life
depictions that hit home;
- describe previous efforts to deal with it, both here and abroad, and the
results;
- analyze how the problem or issue connects with others, and what are its
historical roots, deeper social origins and consequences;
- describe any previous Left solutions, as well as why and how these have
required rethinking;
- spell out the values and basic principles driving the discussion;
- present long-term solutions, even if they involve social transformation
(the "best" solution);
- present policy proposals for immediate action.
- make "what you can do next" suggestions to the reader.
Series editor is Ronald Aronson, chair of the Center for Democratic Values
and Professor of Humanities at Wayne State University. The Steering
Committee includes Alan Charney, National Director, Democratic Socialists of
America, Kathy Quinn, Philadelphia DSA, David Glenn, Volunteer Coordinator,
CDV, Maxine Phillips, Managing Editor, Dissent, Rick Perlstein, Associate
Editor, Lingua Franca, Ernst Benjamin, Associate General Secretary, AAUP,
and Nelson Lichtenstein, University of Virginia. The Editorial Board is
being organized and includes, in addition to the last two, Barbara
Ehrenreich, Charles Mills, University of Illinois-Chicago, Norman Birnbaum,
American University, and Cornel West, Harvard University. For information
contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Center for Democratic Values
10524 Elgin
Huntington Woods, MI 48070
(810) 548-5824
Fax (313) 577-8585
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.dsausa.org/Lit/CDV/index.html
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