This Could be the Start of Something Big: How Social Movements for Regional Equity are Reshaping Metropolitan America

Abstract

For nearly two decades, progressives have been dismayed by the steady rise of the right in U.S. politics. Often lost in the gloom and doom about American politics is a striking and sometimes underanalyzed phenomenon: the resurgence of progressive politics and movements at a local level. Emphasizing “regional equity,” unusual alliances of labor, community and even business groups have been built around issues of community benefits, housing affordability, and access to transit. Drawing on a wealth of case studies as well as their own experience in the field, Pastor, Benner, and Matsuoka point out the promise and pitfalls of this new approach and argue that what they term social movement regionalism can offer an important contribution to the revitalization of progressive politics in America.