Max Elbaum

Max Elbaum is a member of the Convergence Magazine editorial board and the author of Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che (Verso Books, Third Edition, 2018), a history of the 1970s-‘80s ‘New Communist Movement’ in which he was an active participant. He is also a co-editor, with Linda Burnham and María Poblet, of Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections (OR Books, 2022).

Contributions from Max Elbaum

Saying No to the Empire Is Not Enough

Max Elbaum

We won’t stop US wars, effectively tackle climate change, stave off US-style fascism, or halt the march to a nakedly might-makes-right world order without a vision for a transformed role for the US in today’s interconnected world.

Militarism

When the World Said No to War

Max Elbaum

The biggest lesson from this déjà vu moment? We must resist every one of Washington’s might-makes-right policies, and fight for an entirely different relationship between the US and the rest of the world.

Danger from the Right

For the Next Election, Prepare to Fight MAGA’s Steal

Max Elbaum

The November 4 election gave us a huge boost. But for the 2026 midterms, success requires both electoral majorities and preparations for a popular uprising at vote-counting sites, state capitols, courthouses, workplaces, and schools.

Pushing MAGA Out: The Resistance Ramps Up

Max Elbaum

Zohran Mamdani wins big, outrage mounts at Israel’s genocide, and new projects take off, including One Million Rising and the Battleground Alliance PAC—all building momentum against MAGA’s drive toward authoritarian rule.

A Path to Pushing MAGA Out of Power

Max Elbaum

Only a new governing coalition capable of expanding political democracy and beginning a process of structural change can push MAGA back to the margins. Lessons from the 2020 election and the Biden years help show a path toward that goal.

Defeating a Bloc Ginned Up on Delusion and Hate

Max Elbaum

The MAGA base’s adoration for Trump has deep structural roots but it also reflects Trump’s unique blend of pathology and demagogic savvy. Removing this toxic force from power requires both the broadest possible anti-MAGA front and a radical contingent aware of just how deep the roots of US fascism run.

Global Battlefields: A No-Holds-Barred Reckoning

Max Elbaum

Walden Bello’s memoir wrestles with tough questions of political strategy and radical ethics in a world full of uprisings, wars, obscene inequality, and aggressive counter-revolutionary movements.

Resisting the “Everything, Everywhere All at Once” Blitzkrieg

Max Elbaum

MAGA’s fast-moving coup is upending the longstanding arrangements that have undergirded domestic politics and the US role in the world. What does this mean for the resistance, and how can the US Left maximize our impact?

A (Fragile) Ceasefire Begins, the War on Palestine Continues

Max Elbaum

On fighting for a permanent ceasefire, a continued building of momentum for the movement against the Gaza genocide, and ending US support for Israeli apartheid–no matter who is in the White House.

Our Margin of Effort: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Max Elbaum

A broad swath of the progressive movement “left it all on the field” in 2024. The results offer some sobering lessons about our relative strength, the myopia of the Democratic Party leadership, and the toll taken by 60 years of right-wing backlash on democratic rights and the conditions of working-class people in the US and across the globe.

Shot from the back of three men pushing a van out of the mud.

The ‘Margin of Effort’ With an Internationalist Throughline

Max Elbaum

It’s crunch time for staving off MAGA and stepping up protests against Israel’s genocidal war, which is escalating daily with US government backing. We must do both.

Two women and a man, all wearing keffiyahs. One holds a sign saying #notAnotherBomb. The people are black-and-whote cutouts against a backdrop of red poppies on a green background.

Palestine: From Shifting the Discourse to Changing US Policy

Max Elbaum

The movement opposing Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has transformed this country’s conversation about Palestine. This achievement, and the passion and political creativity displayed since October 2023, opens the path to forcing a change in US policy—and to putting internationalism at the center of the progressive movement’s agenda.

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Contributions from Max Elbaum