Wilcox, Derk Arend. The Left Guide: A Guide to Left-of-Center Organizations.
Economics America, 1996. 516 pages. (Available for $74.95 from Economics
America, Inc., 612 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI 48104, Tel: 734-995-0865.)
Don't be thrown by the title of this reference work -- it includes a
substantial number of centrist and establishment organizations, in addition
to organizations that would identify themselves as progressive or leftist.
Almost every profile is admirably objective, but occasionally the rightist
editor cannot resist a gratuitous slur (William Kunstler is described as
someone who "made a career out of defending terrorists, bombers, murderers,
and robbers who used political justification for their crimes"). Still, this
volume is useful, because profiles of more than a thousand organizations
were laboriously compiled from IRS Form 990 data (which is furnished by the
organizations themselves), along with other sources. In the end the profiles
include most officers (including some salaries), some directors, trustees
and advisors, budget and funding sources, and data on purpose and programs.
Fewer than half of the names were selected for NameBase. Most labor
unions, ecological organizations, feminist organizations, and groups with a
local focus were skipped. Centrist and liberal organizations also bore us,
unless they have ties to big money, the foreign-policy establishment, or the
intelligence establishment. Increasingly, left vs. right seems to us to be a
diversion; it's mostly a matter of top vs. bottom. Why not "The Top Guide"?
ISBN 0-914169-03-3
Extract the names from this source
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