Defending Democracy Webinar Series

Democracy is under siege at home and abroad—but history shows that authoritarianism can be stopped, and democracy can be rebuilt through courageous, strategic movements and the actions of everyday people. Thus the Albert Shanker Institute, in partnership with the AFT, launched a series of webinars featuring experts and strategists of resistance and people-powered movements from around the world, exploring how we turn the tide through education, organized labor, and strategic coalition-building.

The four most recent webinars, in conjunction with the AFT's International Affairs department and its extensive worldwide network of education and public sector organizations, amplify the stories of those on the ground in Latin America, South Korea, Hungary and South Africa (June 16, 2026) who are mobilizing resistance and organizing workers to secure democracy. These educators, labor leaders and other democracy activists have confronted authoritarian governments, defended democratic institutions, and built the kind of cross-border solidarity that sustains movements over time.

Below are links to watch each of the webinars, as well as to register for our upcoming webinar on South African and The Legacy of Youth Activism on June 16, the 50^th Anniversary of the Soweto Uprising:

Antisemitism, Democracy and the Assault on Knowledge Education, April 3, 2025.

How to Stop a Backsliding Democracy in its Tracks (and Engineer Reverse Course): Lessons Learned and What Do We Do Next?, May 20, 2025

Defending Democracy: Latin American Resistance to Authoritarianism, August 25, 2025.

Defending Democracy: The Role of South Korea Labor Unions, November 17, 2025

Defending Democracy: The Hungarian Elections and the Future of Hungarian Democracy, April 20, 2026

Defending Democracy: South Africa: The Legacy of Youth Activism in the Fight for Global Democracy, June 16, 2026

Recent Blog Posts

Publications

The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems (Eighth Edition)
A national evaluation of the K-12 school finance systems of all 50 states and D.C., published by researchers from the Albert Shanker Institute, University of Miami, and Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
What Would Bayard Rustin Do? by Eric Chenoweth
Eric Chenoweth is director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe and principal author of Democracy Web, an online comparative study guide for teachers, students and civic activists. He worked with Bayard Rustin in various capacities in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems (Seventh Edition)
A national evaluation of the K-12 school finance systems of all 50 states and D.C., published by researchers from the Albert Shanker Institute, University of Miami, and Rutgers Graduate School of Education.

Blog Archives

Our Mission

The Albert Shanker Institute, endowed by the American Federation of Teachers and named in honor of its late president, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to three themes - excellence in public education, unions as advocates for quality, and freedom of association in the public life of democracies. With an independent Board of Directors (composed of educators, business representatives, labor leaders, academics, and public policy analysts), its mission is to generate ideas, foster candid exchanges, and promote constructive policy proposals related to these issues.

This blog offers informal commentary on the research, news, and controversies related to the work of the Institute.