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Progressivism in the 21st century
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Zohran Mamdani stands at a podium holding hands with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all smiling, as supporters hold Zohran signs at a campaign rally in Queens, New York City. Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks at a podium with a sign reading Student Debt Cancellation Is Legal, while supporters behind her hold Cancel Student Debt signs in front of the Supreme Court. Two generations of progressivism
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Zohran Mamdani stands at a podium holding hands with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all smiling, as supporters hold Zohran signs at a campaign rally in Queens, New York City.
The face of the modern progressive movement Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joining hands with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani at a rally in October 2025.

Progressivism in the 21st century

Written by
Tracy Grant
Tracy Grant is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. She previously served as editor in chief, the first woman to hold that title. 
Tracy Grant
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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•History

If some of the lions of 20th-century progressivism (think Theodore Roosevelt, W.E.B. Du Bois, or Ida Tarbell) surveyed the key issues touted by 21st-century progressives, they could be forgiven for nodding knowingly and muttering, “Wonder where they got that idea?” That’s because the progressive political movement that grew up in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks is rooted in the same belief system that changed the United States fundamentally at the end of...

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