Progressivism on Tap: Is Big Philanthropy Undermining Democracy?
In a recent lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, Gara LaMarche, who formerly oversaw grantmaking at two of the world’s largest foundations, explored the provocative question of whether wealthy foundations have become just like other self-interested businesses that enjoy preferential tax and policy treatment at the expense of the greater good. LaMarche asked: Why [...]The Middle-Out Moment
Please join the Center for American Progress and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas on Wednesday, June 19, for a discussion about “middle-out” economics. The event will mark the release of Democracy’s new summer issue and its feature symposium, "The Middle-Out Moment." Michael Tomasky will moderate a conversation with three contributors to the symposium: Neera Tanden, Bruce Bartlett, and Eric Liu.Immigrants and Their Children in the Future Workforce
Our nation is in the midst of two great demographic shifts. The largest generation of Americans – the Baby Boomers – is reaching retirement age and will leave the workforce en masse within the next two decades. The retirement of the Baby Boom generation will create millions of replacement job openings, even as economic growth creates the need for additional workers to fill newly created jobs. At the same time, our nation is becoming more demographically diverse. Immigrants and their children make up a growing share of the population that will be entering their prime working years over the next two decades. With large numbers of jobs coming open in every sector of the economy and at all skill levels, immigrants and their children will play a vital role in reshaping the workforce, filling essential jobs, and sustaining economic growth.New Organizations, New Voices
The recent emergence of teacher-voice organizations presents a new avenue for teachers to have their voices heard in education policy conversations. These grassroots organizations focus on a wide range of policy issues and have popped up at a time when new policy initiatives, from teacher evaluation reform to the implementation of the common core state standards, are directly impacting the work of teachers.The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
American democracy is beset by a sense of crisis. Seismic shifts during a single generation have created a country of winners and losers, allowing unprecedented freedom while rending the social contract, driving the political system to the verge of breakdown, and setting citizens adrift to find new paths forward. In The Unwinding, George Packer journeys through the lives of several everyday Americans over the past three decades. From every corner of the country, their intimate stories are interwoven with biographical sketches of the era’s leading public figures, from Newt Gingrich to Jay-Z, and collages made from newspaper headlines, advertising slogans, and song lyrics that capture the flow of events and their undercurrents. The Unwinding portrays a superpower in danger of coming apart at the seams; its elites no longer elite, its institutions no longer working, and its ordinary people left to improvise their own schemes for success and salvation. Please join us for a discussion with author George Packer on his new book. Copies of The Unwinding will be available for purchase at the event.The Politics of Gun Control
Our second session in the new season of Progressivism on Tap will feature a discussion with New Republic reporter Alec MacGillis, author of the recent article "This Is How the NRA Ends". MacGillis believes we are witnessing the emergence of a "bigger, richer, meaner gun control movement", which could very well be a turning point in the politics of gun control. We will explore the implications of this change for the future of gun control legislation as well as, more broadly, for the role of social issues in fueling the rising progressive coalition.POSTPONED: Father’s Day Forum: The Realities of Low-Income Dads and the Child-Support Reforms that Could Help Their Families
In Doing the Best I Can, Kathy Edin and Tim Nelson paint a vivid picture of urban fatherhood in the 21st century. Moving past two-dimensional stereotypes about “deadbeat dads” who don’t care about their kids, the ethnographers tell a more nuanced story about low-income fathers that has implications for policies such as child-support enforcement. The program is at the center of calls for reform that include regularly incorporating visitation into child-support orders, improving customer service, and improving system approaches to fathers with employment barriers that affect their ability to pay support.The stakes are high—increased income for single-mother families, social supports for dads, and improved father-child relationships.
This panel will discuss the realities of low-income families and the potential child-support reforms that could improve their outcomes.
His Excellency Ollanta Humala, President of Peru on Peru’s Global Emergence
Please join the Center of American Progress and the Inter-American Dialogue for an event featuring President Ollanta Humala of Peru. On the eve of his Oval Office meeting with President Obama, President Humala will discuss Peru's growing global engagement and its connection to his work to advance economic and social inclusion in Peru.Senator Sherrod Brown on a Competitive Agenda for a Global Economy
With goods and services trade accounting for nearly one-third of overall U.S. economic activity, now more than ever we need to ensure that American workers and businesses are able to compete at home and abroad. As Congress is poised to consider new trade agreements, Senator Sherrod Brown will lay out a vision for American competitiveness based on a strong and growing middle class and investments that can fuel both export growth and the welcome trend of insourcing that is bringing more jobs back to the United States. From repairing our crumbling infrastructure to supporting the renaissance in manufacturing, Senator Brown will describe smart policies that can garner bipartisan support and lay the foundations for a more competitive American economy.Progressivism on Tap: What’s the Matter with White People?
Please join us for an intriguing discussion about the intersection of culture, race, and economics shaping America’s political future.CANCELLED: Bridegroom
Due to unforseen circumstances, this screening has been postponed. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, Bridegroom is a documentary directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that tells the emotional journey of Shane and Tom, two young men in a loving and committed relationship — a relationship that was cut tragically short by a misstep off the side of a roof. The story of what happened after this accidental death– of how people without the legal protections of marriage can find themselves completely shut out and ostracized– is poignant, enraging and opens a window onto the issue of marriage equality like no speech or lecture ever will.How Can the Housing Finance System Promote Broad Access and Affordability?
How can we reform our housing-finance system so that all Americans can access safe, affordable housing? How can we meet the credit needs of historically underserved populations and geographies? What role does the secondary market—which buys mortgages, packages them into securities, and sells them to investors—play in attaining these goals?Please join our distinguished speaker and panel for a provocative discussion of these questions. In addition, this event will feature the release of a white paper addressing these questions and related topics that is being presented by CAP, the National Council of La Raza, and a broad range of housing, civil rights, and consumer groups.
A Broken Bargain
America’s workers spend almost half of their waking adult lives at work. In return, the basic American bargain is that those who work hard can get ahead—no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they look like. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) workers, however, this bargain is broken.Progressive State Policies to Rebuild the Middle Class
Show Embed Code Progressive leaders in state governments are taking a number of steps to build an economy that works for everyone, and they have ambitious plans for additional reforms. They are striving to create jobs, boost incomes, cut costs for middle-class necessities, lower the risks of falling behind, and boost opportunity and fair [...]Unfinished Business: The Feminine Mystique at 50
Fifty years ago, when Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, unmarried women in more than half of the United States weren't allowed access to contraception. Married women in some states couldn't sit on juries, get a job without their husband’s permission, or keep control of their property and earnings.
That world is now a distant memory. And yet the revolution in women’s lives that Friedan’s controversial book helped launch remains woefully incomplete. Individual women have made great strides professionally, and some have made it to the very top of their chosen professions. But for the vast majority, the larger scope of Friedan’s dream—that our society might evolve in ways that would permit women to reach their “full human potential” at work and at home—remains unrealized.
Please join us on May 23 when Gail Collins and Anna Quindlen-authors of the introduction and afterword to the 50th anniversary edition of The Feminine Mystique-will visit the Center for American Progress. They will speak with CAP Senior Fellow Judith Warner about the unfinished business of the women's movement and discuss Betty Friedan's critical and much-contended legacy.
Copies of The Feminine Mystique: 50th Anniversary Edition will be available for purchase at the event.
Subscribe to the American Progress Events Podcast