(deadline, January 15, 2009)
The current crisis of capitalism underscores the need for a strong Left political force. The popular mobilization that contributed to Barack Obama's election has encouraged optimism as to the possibility of such a development. The challenge is not only for each constituency to intensify its efforts, but also for activists identified with all the popular constituencies to move toward a fuller understanding of the conditions for establishing a major political force in the United States which, in contrast to the Democratic as well as the Republican party, would not be beholden to the capitalist class. Socialism and Democracy proposes to contribute to this project by offering the pages of its July 2009 issue to an exchange of ideas with this end in view. We seek to present both an analysis of the underlying crisis and a range of responses to the question of the theoretical and organizational basis for bringing into being the kind of movement/organization which could build on the new situation and, in so doing, bring about a significant progressive advance in the balance of political forces in the United States. To this end, we invite the submission of short "thought-pieces" (2-3,000 words) for consideration. Essays may be policy-oriented but should in that case relate any short-term proposals to a longer-term strategy. Please send your submission no later than January 15, 2009, preferably in the form of a MS Word document (not "docx"), to _info at sdonline.org_ (mailto:info at sdonline.org ) .