The uniqueness of New Compass
First, what is the unique voice of New Compass? One thing that distinguishes us from all other web sites is that we are ideologically rooted in social ecology and communalism (if you are not familiar with these concepts, please consult The Communalist Project, Communalism as Alternative, Theses on Social Ecology and Deep Ecology or Economics in a Social-Ecological Society). Today, New Compass is the major web journal for people who are interested in these ideological perspectives, and we wish to continue to be so also in the future.
These perspectives, on the other hand, are very little known. We believe that it is necessary to present these perspectives to people in a relevant, easy-to-understand and accessible manner. Another of our ambitions, therefore, is to be the main source of such perspectives on current affairs.
This does not mean that only people who identify with these perspectives can contribute to our website. Quite to the contrary, we believe that there are many out there who share our thoughts on politics, current affairs and movement building, without using social ecology to label these ideas. Therefore, we wish to invite all who share our concern for the issues listed below to contribute to our journal.
Our audience
We have no illusions that it is possible for a small web journal with a limited amount of both time and economic resources, to reach a mass audience of ‘ordinary people’ with these perspectives. More realistically, we aim to reach an audience active citizens/activists in social and political movements around the world.
We believe that the ideas of social ecology and communalism have a special place in the endeavor to ‘change the world,’ and that is why it is crucial for us to reach people who are actively involved in changing it. This particular audience is something you also should have in mind when you write for us.
Relevant themes and types of content
Our basic views, which are further elaborated on the web page (/about/views), opens for writing about an abundance of themes. In principle we are interested in contributions on issues such as direct and participatory democracy, ecology, economics, equality, feminism, queer, disability, internationalism, enlightenment, ideological thought, art, movement building, activism and more. However, publishing articles on all these issues will make us indistinguishable from other left-wing political blogs or web journals if we do not add certain requirements on the themes we would like to publish.
Here is a further specification of what kind of content we are looking for. This list is not exhaustive, but we hope gives you a sufficient picture to give your contribution:
Democracy
· Articles that show the relevance of direct and participatory democracy in politics, economic and social institutions and everyday life, and that discuss how it can contribute to solve the environmental and social problems we are facing today.
· Critiques of our current parliamentary/representative model and how conventional politics interrelates with the financial sector and large corporations.
· Interviews with activists or theoreticians of participatory democracy, news stories and reportages from groups, individuals, movements or communities with extraordinary achievements in this respect or those who struggle against oppressive governments or economic institutions in order to realize more direct forms of democracy.
· Articles that highlight the role of assemblies in present social movements, how these movements think that assembly models of democracy might be realized in today’s world, and historical experiences with assembly democracy.
Economics
· Articles that show the systematic nature of the present economic crisis, and how it has to be solved with systemic changes.
· Interviews, articles and news stories with groups, individuals, movements or communities who not only protest the current economic system, but also propose radically democratic solutions to the crisis or prefigure alternative ways of organizing the economy.
· Examples of alternative economic models and that analyses of the pros and cons of such models in relation to direct democracy, participation, equality, ecology and liberation of all groups in society.
· Analyses of the relationship in between cultural modes of being and thinking and economic systems, and discussions of what kind of ethics and cultural sentiments that has to accompany economics based democracy and cooperation.
Ecology
· Articles that gives the broader picture of the dimensions of our current ecological crisis, and that shows how social problems such as inequality, exploitation and marginalization or related to environmental problems.
· Interviews, articles and news stories with groups, individuals, movements or communities who not only protest the climate policies, pollution or other forms of environmental degradation, but also propose radical ecological solutions ‘from below’ to issues such as construction and urbanization, agriculture and food, transportation, industrial production, energy and the like.
· Analyses of how ecological solutions also involve changes in the political system, societal values, ways of organizing the economy and how we relate to each other as human beings in general.
Social struggles and liberation
· Articles that show how social struggles against oppression and exploitation – such as feminist, queer, disability, migrant and class struggles – are connected to the struggle for a free, cooperative and participatory society.
· Analyses on how different forms of oppression and exploitation are related to each other and where they differ, and what this means in terms of the possibilities of creating a broad based and common movement for radical social change.
· Interviews and news stories with groups, individuals, movements or communities where struggles are being united, and where new developments occurs that broaden our horizon of freedom.
· Articles that highlight importance of internationalism and that reveal the repressive nature of nationalist policies. We also encourage contributions on new internationalist developments in previous national liberation struggles.
Reason and culture
· Articles that uphold the ideals of reason, secularism and enlightenment against the recent wave of mysticism and religious fundamentalism – and that show why the struggle against reactionary forms of thinking are important in the struggle for a free society.
· Interviews with activists that is combating superstition, mysticism and religious fundamentalism in their countries and communities.
· Interviews, presentations and reviews of thinkers that making important progress in progressive and revolutionary philosophy, and especially thinkers who are developing alternatives in radical philosophy to dogmatic Marxism or postmodernist nihilism.
· Articles, interviews and reportages that focus on the corrosive effect of capitalist consumer culture, and example of groups and individuals who seek cultural alternatives to dominant images and discourses.
Formats
Much of the content published on New Compass take the form of short articles and comments. However, this is not the only types of content that we would like to publish. Here is a list of some of the formats that you might use when you write for us:
· Interviews: This can encompass everything from the simple question and answer format, to larger portraits of both groups and individuals.
· Reportages: We would also like to see more reportages on our webpage covering specific issues, events, movements and places.
· Reports: A smaller and easier format than the reportage are reports from events, visits, talks, seminars etc.
· Debates: Another format we would like to explore more is debates, where two of more people involve themselves in a written discussion on an issue/theme.
· Short articles: As already noted this is the most normal format on our webpage, and we are quite content with how this work for providing commentaries on a current issue from the perspectives we want to showcase.
· Theoretical articles: Sometimes we also publish long theoretical articles that include longer lists of references etc. and we will continue to do so in the future.
· Reviews: We also would like reviews of things like books, articles, lectures, movies and series, exhibitions etc.
Since New Compass is a website we encourage our contributors to use this way of publishing for what is worth. This means including links to other sites, photos/illustrations, embedded videos etc. We also have guidelines for contributors (link) which provide an overview of formatting of the text (titles, subtitles, teaser, number of words, etc.), that should be consulted before you start writing.
Hopefully this brief overview gave you a better impression on what we want to do with New Compass, and we truly look forward to your contribution!