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Z SPECIAL HISTORY SERIES

New from Z Friend, Kathy Kelly:

The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will hold accountable, through testimony of witnesses,  US weapons manufacturers for Crimes Against Humanity and violations U.S. Federal criminal laws. Get involved!

SOLIDARITY SPOTLIGHT

31 authors & 6 orgs invite you to consider 20 Theses for Liberation, a living document to engage with in a collective process.

Forums for Engagement:
ZCommunity Forum
What RU Talking About
Kali Akuno/Coop Jackson on RevZ

Early responses:
Me, You, & 20 Theses
Get Behind #4Liberation
What I Owe the 20 Theses
Education #4Liberation
Community #4Liberation

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Real Utopia: Foundation for a Participatory Society exists to establish an international network of activist-organizers who are inspired and motivated by Participatory theory, vision, and strategy.

RU Introduction
RU Newsletter

The Greek Internationalist Art & Research Centre for Post Capitalist Studies, called mέta, works to break with a dystopian present to imagine the world anew.

ParticipatoryEconomy.org provides information and resources on how a modern economy can be organised around solidarity & sustainability instead of competition and greed.

New from Z Friend, Kathy Kelly:

The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will hold accountable, through testimony of witnesses,  US weapons manufacturers for Crimes Against Humanity and violations U.S. Federal criminal laws. Get involved!

SOLIDARITY SPOTLIGHT

31 authors & 6 orgs invite you to consider 20 Theses for Liberation, a living document to engage with in a collective process.

Forums for Engagement:
ZCommunity Forum
What RU Talking About
Kali Akuno/Coop Jackson on RevZ

Early responses:
Me, You, & 20 Theses
Get Behind #4Liberation
What I Owe the 20 Theses
Education #4Liberation
Community #4Liberation

Sign on!

Real Utopia: Foundation for a Participatory Society exists to establish an international network of activist-organizers who are inspired and motivated by Participatory theory, vision, and strategy.

RU Introduction
RU Newsletter

The Greek Internationalist Art & Research Centre for Post Capitalist Studies, called mέta, works to break with a dystopian present to imagine the world anew.

ParticipatoryEconomy.org provides information and resources on how a modern economy can be organised around solidarity & sustainability instead of competition and greed.

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ZNetwork: Left News, Analysis, Vision & Strategy

Z Magazine Relaunch! FREE subscription for sustainers

Giving Tuesday – Giving Two Ways

Dear Z Community,

Most of us on the ZStaff are new to the fundraising world, so for us it’s our first Giving Tuesday.

What is Giving Tuesday? It’s the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving (US) and an international day of “giving back” by contributing to a non-profit.

We likely share your combination of reactions… on one hand, a desire to join in a beautiful day of true solidarity when the world is focused on giving, sharing, and building community. On the other hand, the reflexive eye roll and even the stomach churn caused by the commodification of generosity – as if on this day of atonement, by clicking donate a few extra times the gods of Capitalism will hand down absolution for our society’s rampant individualism on all other days. We are then supposed to feel whole again, yet the ritual is often ineffective.

For all its promise, the non-profit sector and especially the fundraising industry is no post-capitalist paradise.

As people of good intent working to build a better world, it is simply our reality that we must continually find balance between engaging our critique of the status quo, while living in the status quo. By sharing this struggle in community, it is easier to bear and even to find levity. We are striving to navigate in positive directions on an imperfect road. Let’s acknowledge the good, the bad, and the ugly together.

As it turns out, like many popular traditions and holidays, when you go back to its roots Giving Tuesday is much less cringy and more radical than it appears under the corporate spotlight. At its founding, Giving Tuesday was intended to promote the concept of “generosity not as a benevolence that the haves show to the have-nots but rather an expression of mutuality, solidarity, and reciprocity.” We can get onboard with that!

In this radical spirit of reciprocity, we’d like to both give and receive this Giving Tuesday…

Starting now through December 31, all sustainers who commit to donating $5/month or higher will receive a gift of a one-year digital subscription to the iconic and newly relaunched, Z Magazine!

Donors who make one-time donation of $60 or higher during this fundraising cycle also qualify!

Z Magazine was founded in 1980s as a follow up to the radical publishing collective, South End Press. In the opening days, a few writers’ support was critical to the project’s success, including: Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, bell hooks, Edward Herman, Holly Sklar, and Jeremy Brecher. Z developed into a major left-wing, activist-oriented publication.

Today’s ZStaff has been working hard to bring back this unique and essential monthly magazine that presents vision & strategy focused content for activists in a beautiful format. We have even more ideas for improvements and collaborations with aligned organizations – but we need your help to fund it.

Please consider becoming a sustainer or increasing your monthly donation this Giving Tuesday – not as a tokenized form of charity but as an act of reciprocity. You are supporting your community, which we hope, enriches you in return. 

In community,

The ZStaff

Promotional Z Magazine subscription will be active January 2024 – December 2024.

Sustainers who contribute $5/month or higher and one-time donors who contribute $60 or higher before Dec 5 will also receive the December 2023 issue as a bonus!

Z Magazine is currently circulated in digital format – with enough support, we plan to offer a print on demand version to increase the magazine’s accessibility and enjoyment.

Are you already a sustainer at $5/month or higher? Though we need and appreciate any boost in contribution level, even without increasing your donation you will automatically receive this promotional subscription!

Starting now through December 31, all sustainers who contribute $5/month or higher will receive a gift of a one-year digital subscription to the iconic and newly relaunched, Z Magazine!

Donors who make one-time donation of $60 or higher during this fundraising cycle also qualify!

Promotional subscription will be January 2024 – December 2024.

Sustainers who commit before Dec 5 will receive the December 2023 issue as an extra bonus!

Are you already a sustainer at $5/month or higher? Though we need and appreciate any boost in contribution level, even without increasing your donation you will automatically receive this promotional subscription!

Z Magazine is currently circulated in digital format – with enough support, we plan to offer a print on demand version to increase the magazine’s accessibility and enjoyment.

Z needs your help!

Join Noam Chomsky in supporting Z, as we bring 45 years of independent media to the next generation of activists and movements.

A special message from Noam Chomsky

Dear Z Network reader:

I have written for, related to, and been close friends with the outstanding Z project for much of my political life. I came on board when South End Press was born, stayed when Z Magazine first launched, and became still more connected with ZNet itself via my yet earlier New Left era connections to Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent. I know Z from writing books for South End Press, articles for Z Magazine, and all manner of things for the web system now called znetwork.org. I have also written countless letters, over the years, to aid Z’s efforts to raise funds. This is another of those letters, but it is also a chance to make a more general case that needs making.

The new Z, I guess about a year old now, arose from Michael getting on in years and deciding it was time to make way for younger leadership. There are seven on the new staff. I know some and have now seen the work of others. They rebuilt the site and now seek to broaden and grow its impact. They have done this as volunteers with no income at all. Compare znetwork.org to other operations with budgets not only for salaries, but for solicitation, and more. Despite that they have had none of that you wouldn’t know it by looking. So, it is reasonable to wonder, aside from helping them exist, what might they bring us all if we provide funds for them to work longer hours, and to implement more innovations?

These people are not content with survival, and rightly so. Their goal is to aid activists win real change. They cover everything that needs attention but far more so than many other projects, they focus on strategy and vision. I am a ZFriend—a group they have assembled to consult, publish, and get advice from. They don’t want a nominal board that does nothing. They want a community of involved Friends to relate to and I know they want to address their entire audience in much the same fashion. I believe that with funding support, each of the seven staff will not only free themselves to devote more time, more energy, and more creative focus for the long haul, but they will also have means to pay writers, generate topical explorations, sponsor debates and roundtables, generate video and a videocast to go with podcasts and more, plus generate something they call ZedTalks…imagine that!

For over fifty years I have watched groups try to fundraise. It is an alienating, thankless, pursuit. After all, it is a kind of begging. But what choice do such groups have? Well, I would like to propose to you that you let this long-running, highly accomplished, left project, and all those you really like, have your support without further begging by the likes of me—or themselves.

So please visit ZNetwork.org  and support the new ZNetwork staff in their efforts. They don’t claim they will shut the doors if you don’t. They are far too committed for that and far too honest, as well. They seek your support not for personal survival but for increased organizational achievement. What they do claim, and what I believe is true, is that they will do steadily greater things if you provide support. Help them help us all. Help them, and here I quote them, “grow, diversify, and contribute to a movement of movements that wins steadily escalating gains on the path to a new world.”

I support Z. I hope you will do so too.

Noam Chomsky

Welcome to ZNetwork
… the spirit of resistance lives!

Z in 2024: a new website, new features, ambitious new plans, and even some new blood…

Join us in this new chapter, and in celebrating 45 years of community dedicated to advancing vision & strategy, resisting injustice, fostering liberty, and winning a better world for all!

Renovating this massive site took considerable time, a ton of effort, and even a little luck. But all is well and we are still innovating new components.

We encourage your participation in helping continue to improve – please share your feedback and suggestions via email: [email protected], or in our new community forum.

Without further ado – check it out!

In solidarity,

  • The Z Staff: Alexandria, Arash, Bridget, Cooper, Fintan, Greg, & Matic

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