Tim Syme has been fascinated by all things political since a young age and developed a particular interest in political theory and philosophy, ultimately receiving a PhD in philosophy in 2015. His academic research focused on the relationship between everyday actions and large-scale social structures, radical critiques of liberalism, theories of democracy, justice as ethical transformation and critiques of rationalist philanthropy. He was politically radicalised at first slowly, in the 2000s, then very quickly, in 2011, with the Occupy movement in the US, and 2012, with an intellectually transformative experience as a teaching assistant for a class on Marxism. He has been a keen observer of and occasional participant in the movement since attending the first protest march of Occupy Providence, which was actually his first ever protest! His ceaseless curiosity about the left, its ideals, strategies, challenges, prospects and pathologies, underpins his interest in this project. He believes it could fill an important gap by providing a venue for non-dogmatic, clear-eyed and accessible analysis and debate about the left’s internal challenges, with the ultimate goal of helping make our movement stronger and capable of wielding the power needed to transform the world.

Adam Herriott is passionately committed to social and environmental justice, and has contributed his energy to wide ranging campaigns in the environmental, labour, socialist, democracy and anti far-right movements. He is constantly trying to understand the dynamics of social change, carrying out in-depth research and writing on what leads to movement success. His participation has led him to understand the numerous barriers that social movements face when working on the ground. His research has led him to be a strong proponent of the need for analysis of where the sticking points are that prevent social change from happening, and possible solutions to get to success. He is passionate about this project because although the left has several structural disadvantages compared to the right, there are also many internal weaknesses of the left which result in self sabotage and he is keen to unpack these so we might live in a more equal and sustainable world.

Adam and Tim met in 2021 when Momentum’s cultural wing, The World Transformed, held its conference online due to the pandemic. We ended up in a political education reading group and, after some twists and turns, split off to do our own thing. 

We think we’re well suited to this project because

  • neither of us really identifies with or has ever formally been part of any particular left faction, though we have (Adam especially) been members of various organisations
  • we combine theoretical expertise and practical experience
  • despite our contrasting experiences, we have similar views about the state of the left.