Progressive International is a left-of-center organization that aims to serve as a guide for the international socialist movement. It promotes environmentalism, political and economic equity, and an end to all wars. It opposes Israel and advocates for the revolutionary liberation of the Palestinian people. 1
The organization is advised by a number of major left-wing politicians and academics, most notably former U.K. Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. 2
Background
Progressive International was founded in 2018 based on suggestions from the Sanders Institute and the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) that left-wing “progressive” activists form a common front. It advocates for a world that has an egalitarian power structure, is “decolonised,” pursues racial and gender equity, an energy system free of conventional fuels, and is “post-capitalist,” having abolished “the cult of work” and “eradicate[d] poverty” through “shared abundance.” 1
Activities
Progressive International publishes a series of “blueprints” to go along withs political platform. The blueprints act as guidelines to inform the policies that left-wing parties around the world put forward. Their topics range from COVID-19 response, debt, sustainable infrastructure, global interdependence, and combating “climate imperialism.” 3
Progressive International publishes articles from various writers on its “Wire” section. These pieces concern a host of left-wing perspectives on foreign policy, striking and protesting international corporations like Amazon, and the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. 4
The organization also undertakes opposition research against pro-market forces and conversative groups. As of December 2023, its “Observatory” section contained two pieces, one attacking recently elected libertarian President Javier Milei of Argentina, and another warning that “electoral integrity is under threat” in the country of Ecuador due to its center-right administration. 5 6
On its website, Progressive International hosts a manifesto from an early anti-Zionist Palestinian political group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The 1969 document, entitled “the Strategy for Liberation of Palestine,” articulates a program of resisting “colonialism” and “fascism” through a revolution of the Palestinian people against the state of Israel. 7
Its member organizations include dozens of left-of-center activist groups from all over the world. 8
As of 2024, the group has announced hiring of a part-time “Watermelon Index Organiser” which according to the listing on the website, would use a “Watermelon Index” to help, “support workers in campaigning for Palestine in their workplace.” 9 The listing continues by describing the Watermelon Index as an online database created by the Movement Research Unit that keeps track of, “…companies that are complicit in Israel’s crimes, and the worker campaigns against them.” 9
On October 28, 2024, the group sent a delegation to the Palestinian Territories for the purpose of investigating what it claimed was the State of Israel’s alleged “Systematic Violations of International Law.” 10 The announcement on the group’s website also accused Israel of, “forced disappearances, detainee torture, and political incarceration of Palestinian civilians, activists and children as young as 12 years old.” 10 The delegation included members of Progressive International as well as the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (ADL) and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). In attendance with the delegation was NLG’s president Suzanne Adely. 11 The delegation’s head, former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, claimed the group was also there, “…to demand a total arms embargo against Israel to stop the genocide, dismantle the occupation, and defend international law.” 10 The group’s announcement also claimed, “We call on legal experts, parliamentarians, and human rights defenders worldwide to join this urgent mission for justice, accountability, and Palestinian liberation. 10
Leadership
Progressive International has an advisory council which guides the organization strategically. Its members include figures from all over the world, especially South America and Africa. Prominent members include Jeremy Corbyn, former Leader of the Opposition and former leader of the U.K. Labour Part;, feminist philosopher and Marxist Silvia Federici; Rage Against the Machine guitarist and left-wing political activist Tom Morello; Yanis Varoufakis, a Greek socialist economist and former Finance Minister; and American Marxist academic Jodi Dean. 2
Its “emeritus” advisory members include linguist and left-wing political thinker Noam Chomsky, anti-capitalist popular writer Naomi Klein, Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe, Marxist journalist and historian Vijay Prashad, Princeton professor and 2024 presidential candidate Cornel West, and Slovenian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek . 2
The day-to-day operations of the group are handled by the Secretariat, a coordinating body of many administrators. The Secretariat is divided into the Movement Team, the Blueprint Team, and the Wire Team. 12
Progressive International is governed by an executive cabinet comprised of eight members from the advisory council and two from the Secretariat. In 2023, they were David Adler, Julian Aguon, Renata Avila, Fatima Diallo, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, Rachmi Hertani, Srecko Horvat, Scott Ludlam, Aruna Roy, and Pierre Sane. 13
References
- “Who We Are.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/about/en.
- “Council.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/council/.
- “Blueprint.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/blueprint.
- “Wire.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/wire.
- “Observatory.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/observatory/.
- “Ecuador elects centre-right business heir Daniel Noboa as president.” Financial Times. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://www.ft.com/content/f4c3f997-2c4c-44f3-b656-57af3a5ac308.
- “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: Resistance Until Victory.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/blueprint/5da536b7-5fb4-4cb3-af35-236350c5cdea-popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-resistance-until-victory/en.
- “Members.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/members.
- “We’re hiring: Watermelon Index Organiser.” Progressive International, Accessed September 27, 2024. https://progressive.international/movement/article/2024-09-19-were-looking-for-the-watermelon-index-organiser/en
- Emergency PI Delegation arrives to Palestine.” Progressive International, October 28, 2024. https://progressive.international/movement/article/2024-10-28-emergency-pi-delegation-arrives-to-palestine/en
- National Lawyers Guild (@NLGnews). “NLG President,
@Suz_Adely, is joining the delegation during this dire time. X, October 29, 2024. https://x.com/NLGnews/status/1851316364419424354 - “Secretariat.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/secretariat/.
- “Cabinet.” Progressive International. Accessed December 3, 2023. https://progressive.international/cabinet/.