Peter Dreier, Author at Public Seminar

Migration

Trump Versus Los Angeles, Immigrants, and the Rule of Law

The ICE raids in Los Angeles were the first step in Trump’s plan to impose martial law

June 12, 2025 • by Peter Dreier

Ten observations on the ongoing anti-ICE protests and Trump's misuse of our military to thwart legal protest: The ICE raids in Los Angeles were the first step in Trump’s goal to impose martial law and consolidate his power. This is hardly far-fetched. Even Congresswoman Laura Friedman said that the other day. ...

Trump Versus Los Angeles, Immigrants, and the Rule of Law

Activism

Betty Friedan’s Radical Century

Because of this organizer, you can’t understand the twentieth century without talking about feminism

March 4, 2021 • by Peter Dreier

"A century after her birth, Betty Friedan’s radical ideas are common sense, and that’s a victory not just for feminists, but for everyone."...

Activism

Americans Have Been in the Streets for Almost Ten Years

The legacies and lessons of Occupy Wall Street, the Women’s Resistance, and Black Lives Matter

June 11, 2020 • by Peter Dreier

In his call with governors on June 1, President Donald Trump said the current protests are “like a movement, and it’s a movement that if you don’t put it down, it’ll get worse and worse. This is like Occupy Wall Street.” Astonishingly, like that broken clock that is correct twice a ...

Americans Have Been in the Streets for Almost Ten Years

Labor

May Day, 2020

The United States doesn’t celebrate this workers’ holiday — but maybe we should

May 1, 2020 • by Peter Dreier

This year, the global Covid-19 pandemic will keep most workers around the world in their homes on May Day. But Americans are more aware of the plight of workers than at any time in decades. Despite the Trump administration’s incompetence and indifference in handling the virus crisis and the economic ...

Democracy

There’s No “Trade-Off” Between Saving Lives and Saving the Economy

A humane society doesn’t trade some lives for others

March 28, 2020 • by Peter Dreier

Nonsense. In February, when he had a chance to take decisive action to get ahead of the virus, Trump told his advisors not to “do or say anything that would further spook the markets.” Trump’s weeks of downplaying the crisis, and his failure to prepare for the looming pandemic, deepened the problem. But having finally acknowledged the ...

There’s No “Trade-Off” Between Saving Lives and Saving the Economy

North America

Next Steps for the Left – and for America

Why the Democratic Party must coalesce around Joe Biden – and Biden must compromise with the left

March 10, 2020 • by Peter Dreier

It is possible, perhaps even likely, that no candidate will win a majority of Democratic delegates. But seems clear now that Biden will have a plurality. At this point, it makes no sense to prolong the internal battle within the Democratic Party and endure a conflict at the July convention ...

Next Steps for the Left – and for America

Politics

Is Democratic Socialism in America’s Future?

The success of every radical movement in American history has occurred when it is co-opted by the forces of reform.

February 25, 2020 • by Peter Dreier

More than at any time since World War I, Americans are talking about socialism. Conservatives fear it. Liberals question it. Many progressives and radicals embrace it. Why is that word, and its egalitarian vision, enjoying a resurgence in the United States? And does it mean that socialism is on the ...

Is Democratic Socialism in America’s Future?

Activism

The History of American Progress is also Jewish History

On the final night of Hannukah, we put Jews at the center of the American narrative

December 30, 2019 • by Peter Dreier

Election results and public opinion polls reveal that among white Americans, Jews have consistently been the most liberal and progressive ethnic and religious group. In 1920, when only 3 percent of Americans voted for Eugene Debs, the Socialist Party candidate for president, Jews gave him 38 percent of their votes. In 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt ...

The History of American Progress is also Jewish History

Race

Can Students Be Traumatized By Art?

San Francisco’s “progressive” school board is embarrassing itself by choosing to destroy a WPA mural

July 2, 2019 • by Peter Dreier

As an article in the New York Times explained: “Arnautoff, who was born in Russia and taught at Stanford, was a Communist who embedded messages critical of the founding father in his murals. He depicted Washington, accurately, at a time when that was rarely acknowledged, as a slave owner and the leader of ...

Education

Why Occidental College Revoked a 1929 Honorary Degree to White Supremacist Paul Popenoe

Confronting the legacy of eugenics in the United States and its ties to the founder of modern marriage counseling

June 13, 2019 • by Peter Dreier

In recent years, many colleges and universities have created task forces and programs to excavate their racist histories. These efforts explore their institutions’ financial ties to slavery; the racist views of some founders, faculty, and alumni; their admissions and hiring practices; and their evolving curriculum that, wittingly or unwittingly, reflected society’s white ...

Feature

Celebrating Gloria Steinem

We All Stand on Her Shoulders

January 2, 2019 • by Peter Dreier

Gloria Steinem, the best-known face of second wave feminism, will turn 85 in March. And while it’s a persistent temptation in our youth-obsessed America to pay more attention to the young than the old, Steinem has not been forgotten. In fact, a new play about Steinem, “Gloria: A Life,” opened ...

Feature

What Should American Progressives Learn from the Midterms?

Victories in Congress and at the state and local level could pave the way for a progressive groundswell in 2020

November 21, 2018 • by Peter Dreier

Politics is a struggle for power -- over ideas and interests -- and after this year’s midterm elections two things remain clear. First, voter suppression and intimidation, racism, and corporate money continue to infect American politics like a virus. Second, despite those obstacles, America is a much more progressive country ...

Peter Dreier

Trump Versus Los Angeles, Immigrants, and the Rule of Law

The ICE raids in Los Angeles were the first step in Trump’s plan to impose martial law

Betty Friedan’s Radical Century

Because of this organizer, you can’t understand the twentieth century without talking about feminism

Americans Have Been in the Streets for Almost Ten Years

The legacies and lessons of Occupy Wall Street, the Women’s Resistance, and Black Lives Matter

May Day, 2020

The United States doesn’t celebrate this workers’ holiday — but maybe we should

There’s No “Trade-Off” Between Saving Lives and Saving the Economy

A humane society doesn’t trade some lives for others

Next Steps for the Left – and for America

Why the Democratic Party must coalesce around Joe Biden – and Biden must compromise with the left

Is Democratic Socialism in America’s Future?

The success of every radical movement in American history has occurred when it is co-opted by the forces of reform.

The History of American Progress is also Jewish History

On the final night of Hannukah, we put Jews at the center of the American narrative

Can Students Be Traumatized By Art?

San Francisco’s “progressive” school board is embarrassing itself by choosing to destroy a WPA mural

Why Occidental College Revoked a 1929 Honorary Degree to White Supremacist Paul Popenoe

Confronting the legacy of eugenics in the United States and its ties to the founder of modern marriage counseling

Celebrating Gloria Steinem

We All Stand on Her Shoulders

What Should American Progressives Learn from the Midterms?

Victories in Congress and at the state and local level could pave the way for a progressive groundswell in 2020

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