Democracy Uprising
  • About
    • About Mark Engler
    • About Democracy Uprising
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    • This Is An Uprising
    • How To Rule the World
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    • 2023-2025
    • 2021-2022
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Social MovementsU.S. Politics / Elections2021-2022

A Guide to Co-Governance: Can Movements and Politicians Work Together?

2017-2018Book ReviewsLatin America

The Pan American

2015-2016Social MovementsU.S. Politics / Elections

In Praise of Impractical Movements

U.S. Politics / Elections2017-2018

Naming Our Desire: How Do We Talk About Socialism in America?

Latest Book: This Is An Uprising! (10th Anniversary Edition)

No More Miss America: A Collective Memory of Liberatory Action

Latest Articles

Learning from Myles Horton’s legendary career in social movements

by Mark Engler December 12, 2025

The famed educator and Highlander Folk School founder offers insights on living through the ups and downs of movement cycles.

by Mark Engler December 12, 2025

Is Trump co-governing with the billionaire class?

June 25, 2025
by Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 25, 2025

Trump Is Inspiring a Historic Wave of Protests

June 20, 2025
by Mark Engler June 20, 2025

Could we be entering a ‘movement moment’ against Trump?

April 10, 2025
by Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 10, 2025

Trump’s backpedaling shows he’s not invincible

March 19, 2025
by Mark Engler and Paul Engler March 19, 2025

Past Favorites

  • It’s Time We Celebrate Ella Baker Day

    by Mark Engler January 17, 2020

    Honoring Baker alongside Martin Luther King would highlight the long and patient work of building a social movement.

    by Mark Engler January 17, 2020
  • The Godfather of Microcredit

    by Mark Engler October 1, 2009

    Is Muhammad Yunus selling ”free market” neoliberalism in the guise of liberal do-gooderism?

    by Mark Engler October 1, 2009
  • There’s More Than One Way to Strike the Boss

    by Mark Engler June 27, 2018

    From fare strikes to sick outs, movements are deploying a variety of creative tactics to disrupt business as usual.

    by Mark Engler June 27, 2018
  • Capitalism as Catastrophe

    by Mark Engler March 31, 2008

    Does Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine hold water?

    by Mark Engler March 31, 2008
  • Would Saul Alinsky Break His Own Rules?

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 2, 2014

    Having experienced recent mass mobilizations, some community organizers are interested in questioning the old divide between “movements” and “organizations”—and in harnessing the power of both.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 2, 2014
  • Ai-jen Poo: Organizing a Movement for Care

    by Mark Engler November 30, 2011

    Talk to Ai-jen Poo about her work and it won’t be long before you hear language you don’t often hear in the midst of intense social movement campaigning.

    by Mark Engler November 30, 2011
  • Can Frances Fox Piven’s Theory of Disruptive Power Create the Next Occupy?

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler May 7, 2014

    Reconsidering Poor People’s Movements in the wake of mass uprising.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler May 7, 2014
  • Is Rambo Still A Republican?

    by Mark Engler November 1, 2004

    Lessons from late-Cold War cinema for the post-9/11 era.

    by Mark Engler November 1, 2004
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Was a Disruptor Not a Peacemaker

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 7, 2016

    Like those of Black Lives Matter activists today, King’s methods were widely criticized—even when they were effective.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 7, 2016
  • When the Pillars Fall — How Social Movements Can Win More Victories Like Same-Sex Marriage

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler July 9, 2014

    Where insider politics fails, a transformational approach can turn the impossible into the inevitable.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler July 9, 2014
  • Why Wendell Matters

    by Mark Engler August 5, 2004

    Seventy years old this week, the veteran sage of sustainable agriculture has made a life of stewardship, “staying home,” and turning off the computer.

    by Mark Engler August 5, 2004
  • Hijacked Organic, Limited Local, Faulty Fair Trade: What’s a Radical to Eat?

    by Mark Engler May 16, 2013

    On the politics of food.

    by Mark Engler May 16, 2013
  • When Women Revolted

    by Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler January 18, 2017

    A wave of disruptive protest fifty years ago helped put women’s liberation on the map—and showcased a radical feminist vision that remains relevant in the age of Trump.

    by Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler January 18, 2017
  • Should We Fight the System or Be the Change?

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 3, 2014

    The strengths and limitations of prefigurative politics.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 3, 2014
  • Immigration Economics: An Interview with Professor Giovanni Peri

    by Mark Engler September 16, 2010

    Doesn’t supply and demand dictate that new immigrants will steal jobs and drive down wages for U.S. citizens? A leading immigration economist explains why not.

    by Mark Engler September 16, 2010
  • War: The Wrong Jobs Program

    by Mark Engler November 17, 2011

    The real question is not whether the government should spend on job creation. It is whether the government has been spending well.

    by Mark Engler November 17, 2011
  • Gandhi’s Strategy for Success — Use More Than One Strategy

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler March 17, 2017

    How creating a healthy “ecology of change” can help propel social movements.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler March 17, 2017
  • Help Wanted—Female

    by Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler September 1, 2017

    The sexist job ads of the 60s are gone, but female-dominated jobs are still vastly undervalued today.

    by Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler September 1, 2017
  • The World Is Not Flat

    by Mark Engler May 1, 2008

    How Thomas Friedman gets it wrong about globalization. An excerpt from How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global Economy (Nation Books, 2008)

    by Mark Engler May 1, 2008
  • Science Fiction From Below

    by Mark Engler May 8, 2009

    Alex Rivera, director of the new film Sleep Dealer, imagines the future of the Global South.

    by Mark Engler May 8, 2009
  • Surviving the Ups and Downs of Social Movements

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler September 3, 2014

    Can theories of movement cycles equip activists to persevere over the long haul?

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler September 3, 2014
  • Four Ways of Looking at an Aztec Eagle

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 1, 2010

    The contested legacy of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

    by Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 1, 2010
  • The “Battle in Seattle” at Ten

    by Mark Engler November 30, 2009

    Did the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization actually make a difference? Yes. Here’s how.

    by Mark Engler November 30, 2009
  • The Gulf at the Gas Station

    by Mark Engler August 12, 2010

    Why the market fails in calculating the true cost of our dependence on oil.

    by Mark Engler August 12, 2010
  • Climate Disobedience

    by Mark Engler August 11, 2009

    Deciding the time has come for direct action to stop global warming.

    by Mark Engler August 11, 2009
  • The Ascent of Niall Ferguson

    by Mark Engler March 17, 2009

    In his new “financial history of the world” a historian famous for celebrating empire turns to praise the wonders of capital.

    by Mark Engler March 17, 2009
  • MLK Economics

    by Mark Engler January 15, 2010

    How Dr. King might have responded to current crises of recession, unemployment, and foreclosure.

    by Mark Engler January 15, 2010
  • Ordinary Outrages

    by Mark Engler April 24, 2002

    A review of Political Fictions by Joan Didion.

    by Mark Engler April 24, 2002
  • On the Price is Right

    by Mark Engler October 1, 2001

    A journey into Television City.

    by Mark Engler October 1, 2001
  • The Last Porto Alegre

    by Mark Engler February 14, 2005

    Assessing the state of the World Social Forum after five years.

    by Mark Engler February 14, 2005
  • No Better Place

    by Mark Engler February 28, 2005

    The fiction of Wendell Berry.

    by Mark Engler February 28, 2005
  • Pranksters Fixing the World

    by Mark Engler October 21, 2009

    With a new film, the Yes Men carry forth their gonzo brand of anti-corporate activism.

    by Mark Engler October 21, 2009
  • There Is an Alternative to Corporate Rule

    by Mark Engler September 1, 2008

    All over the world, truly democratic approaches are bubbling up from the grassroots.

    by Mark Engler September 1, 2008
  • Fair Trade Sweatshops?

    by Mark Engler November 1, 2006

    Supporting ‘clean clothes’ campaigns to end the exploitative labour practices that pervade the textile industry is not as simple as just picking the ‘right’ brand to buy.

    by Mark Engler November 1, 2006
  • Treated Like a Criminal

    by Mark Engler March 1, 2003

    “How the INS Stole Three Days of My Life.” A testimonial from Behrooz Arshadi, as told to Mark Engler.

    by Mark Engler March 1, 2003
  • Those Who Don’t Count

    by Mark Engler May 9, 2003

    Why it matters to remember the Iraq War’s civilian victims.

    by Mark Engler May 9, 2003
  • In God’s Country

    by Mark Engler August 19, 2003

    A review of Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer.

    by Mark Engler August 19, 2003
  • Reverend Billy’s Holiday Shopocalypse

    by Mark Engler December 2, 2005

    The Church of Stop Shopping hits the road.

    by Mark Engler December 2, 2005
  • Six Essays About War and About Peace

    by Mark Engler May 6, 2004

    A series of post-9/11 reflections.

    by Mark Engler May 6, 2004
  • From the Quarantine Against Greed

    by Mark Engler September 30, 2002

    A report from outside the 2002 annual meetings of the IMF/World Bank in Washington, D.C.

    by Mark Engler September 30, 2002
  • Farming the Everglades

    by Mark Engler December 1, 2003

    Florida sugar growers milk taxpayers, farm workers, and endangered wetlands.

    by Mark Engler December 1, 2003
  • When Lost Is Found

    by Mark Engler July 22, 2005

    A review of Rebecca Solnit’s Field Guide to Getting Lost.

    by Mark Engler July 22, 2005
  • Republicans Among Us

    by Mark Engler September 3, 2004

    A week in review from the Republican National Convention, inside and out.

    by Mark Engler September 3, 2004
  • New York Says “No”

    by Mark Engler August 28, 2004

    Why the city will—and should—demonstrate against the Republican Convention.

    by Mark Engler August 28, 2004
  • Toward the “Rights of the Poor”

    by Mark Engler September 1, 2000

    A consideration of human rights in liberation theology, published in the Journal of Religious Ethics (Vol. 28, Issue 3).

    by Mark Engler September 1, 2000

Most Recent

  • Learning from Myles Horton’s legendary career in social movements

    by Mark Engler December 12, 2025
    by Mark Engler December 12, 2025

    The famed educator and Highlander Folk School founder offers insights on living through the ups and downs of movement cycles.

    Read more
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The Author

Mark Engler is a writer based in Philadelphia, an editorial board member at Dissent, and co-director of the Whirlwind Institute, a social change strategy center. His latest book, written with Paul Engler, is This Is An Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-first Century (Nation Books). Mark’s full bio is available here.

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Mark’s Articles Appear In:

  • Dissent
  • The Nation
  • The New Republic
  • N+1
  • Salon.com
  • The Los Angeles Times
  • Waging Nonviolence
  • Boston Review
  • The Atlantic
  • Rolling Stone
  • The Guardian
  • In These Times
  • TomDispatch
  • New Internationalist
  • Yes! Magazine
  • Audubon Magazine
  • Jacobin
  • Mother Jones
  • Le Monde diplomatique
  • Grist Magazine
  • Rebelión
  • The San Francisco Chronicle
  • The Progressive
  • Newsday
  • openDemocracy
  • Truthout
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Dollars & Sense
  • Progreso Semanal
  • Chicago Reader
  • Sin Permiso
  • Baltimore Sun
  • The Ecologist
  • TruthDig
  • Asia Times
  • Sierra Magazine
  • Labor Notes
  • New Politics
  • The Catholic Worker
  • The Des Moines Register
  • Facebook
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  • Email

Back To Top
Democracy Uprising
  • About
    • About Mark Engler
    • About Democracy Uprising
  • Books
    • This Is An Uprising
    • How To Rule the World
  • Topics
  • Translations
  • Appearances
  • Archive
    • 2023-2025
    • 2021-2022
    • 2019-2020
    • 2017-2018
    • 2015-2016
    • 2013-2014
    • 2011-2012
    • 2009-2010
    • 2007-2008
    • 2005-2006
    • 2003-2004
    • 1999-2002