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] *********************************************************************** 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 **********************************************************************