What Is Left Notes?

Writing about politics, the labor movement, and philosophy from a democratic socialist perspective.

The Purpose

We’re using Left Notes for two purposes:

  1. To publish shorter pieces on questions we’re interested in. Questions like…

    1. How can the left build a new political party?

    2. What would a desirable and feasible democratic socialist future look like? How might a transition to that kind of society go?

    3. What’s happening in the Democratic Socialists of America, the broader left, and the labor movement?

    4. What can we learn from other socialists across time (history) and space (internationally)?

  2. To promote longer pieces we write elsewhere (at Jacobin, In These Times, The Call, etc) with additional context and thoughts that we couldn’t fit in the main article.

In both cases, we hope subscribers will give feedback in the comments or by direct message.

About Us

Neal started organizing and doing left politics in 2007 in college in the Student Labor Action Movement (“SLAM”). He joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2012 and worked for a year as DSA’s student organizer. He was then responsible for building Jacobin’s reading groups program. Between 2016 and 2018, Neal served a two year rotation as NYC-DSA’s treasurer and helped rebuild the chapter.

Since 2018 Neal has been a lead organizer for DSA’s Bread & Roses caucus and an editor for its publication, The Call. He’s also working on a dissertation at New York University’s sociology program on the policy and political strategy of the Democratic Party since the 1990s.

Nick began his organizing life as a rank-and-file union member in UAW Local 2865 at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2013. In 2018, he joined East Bay DSA, where he helped lead the chapter’s political education and communications programs. He completed his doctorate in philosophy in 2020 and went on to serve as communications director for democratic socialist Jovanka Beckles’s successful campaign for public transit board.

Nick moved to New York City in 2021 and has worked as an editor at Jacobin magazine since then. He has also written about politics, philosophy, and the labor movement for In These Times, Catalyst Review, Dollars & Sense, and elsewhere.

Why Subscribe?

If what we’ve described above sounds interesting or useful, please consider subscribing. If you need more convincing, consider this emoji-fueled list:

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🆓 It’s free, so there is really no downside.

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Writing about politics, the labor movement, and philosophy from a democratic socialist perspective.

People

Doing a PhD on the transformation of the Democratic Party in the neoliberal era at NYU Sociology. Writing in Jacobin, member of DSA.
Editor at Jacobin, writing at Left Notes, In These Times, Catalyst, and elsewhere. Organizing with the Democratic Socialists of America and Bread & Roses. Semi-reformed academic philosopher.