Closing chapters, starting new books

I've been sitting with Hirschman's theory and what it means to map out all the strategic options, know what they do and don't aggregate to systemically, and choose to act from that place of understanding. And because of who I am as a person, obviously I have turned that water cannon back on myself and this project, too. I alluded to this last week in the regular newsletter, but as I've been thinking about how change happens, who we do change work with, and how to take on challenges (the worthy ones, not just any old thing), I've been thinking about what needs to change with what had been the Radical Reading + Practice Group format as well.

One of the things I wanted to give myself in this work (and this business) is an opportunity to explore and fuck up. And an opportunity to "do" the social science of political change in practice—by trying and testing things, seeing what came up, and iterating. My hope with this RRPG container was that it would offer a good balance of a light touch with some optional structure, and that that would be enough of a spark for intellectual engagement, social connection, and political action. What I think I'm realizing is, this format isn't ideal for translating my actual values around this work. I really believe in everyone feeling empowered to dig deep in theory and practice, question existing knowledge and paradigms, and find—through serious inquiry and stress testing ideas—what works to take on board or what doesn't work to leave behind.

In fact, the words of the Russian partisans in this month's installment brought this home for me. Finding ways to remind people that they already have power is paramount. And offering ways to be in thought partnership with each other, but also with thinkers who are long dead and gone, was one of my goals with this offering. But I don't think it's really been serving that aim, or at least not well enough.

For myself, I notice a lot of pressure to "deliver" on a "product," and to provide "value" that is worthy of the costs you (the reader) are paying to access. But that's not really the value, not in my mind. The value is something you already have, and it's your ability to think critically and raise questions and engage with ideas and implement from a new understanding. So to the extent that I'm offering anything, I want to offer more space for you (and others) to explore that. Paywalling this offering was just part of what felt misaligned, but changing that aspect is concrete and actionable.

So here's the deal: I went through all the subscriptions and refunded anyone who paid for RRPG tier access. I un-paywalled the past posts (you do still just need to sign up as a free member), and any future installments in this vein will be open access. I may make the optional contribution button more accessible as a result, but only in a pay-what-you-want/can way, with no expectations.

I'm unsure if having a regular monthly cadence around radical readings and theory will continue to feel supportive for myself or others going forward, but I suspect that part of the structure will stay. The more "lecture" style component of things will go, though, as will the guided reading questions. I will probably offer some thoughts, some things I'm working through, about any readings or theories that I'm contending with that month. But that won't be in the sense of a guided "syllabus" so much as, here's something that's coming up, and perhaps discussion will evolve from there. Or at least I hope so.

There may be a practice-oriented "live" offering (or several) in the future. I'm still debating what's needed there, and whether needs line up with what I'm actually able to deliver. (If you have thoughts to that effect, they're very welcome.) But for now, this is a note to say that I appreciate you following along through this exploration, and I hope that whatever evolves from here can be something useful.