Social Liberty Foundation
We're a California nonprofit public benefit corporation supporting research, publication, and public education on alternative models of governance and community — and, in turn, other nonprofits doing similar work.
We study and publish on ideas about social structures and governance — libertarian, georgist, and beyond — so readers can reason about them, rather than pushing a party line.
Alternative models of governance, property, and community are worth taking seriously on their own terms, examined with the same rigor as the status quo.
We're organized as a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. No part of the foundation exists for private gain — research, writing, and grants all serve the public.
Beyond our own publishing, we aim to support other nonprofits doing aligned educational and civic work, rather than treating them as competitors.
From 1803 until 1890, a French worker who wanted to change jobs had to carry a small booklet, the *livret d'ouvrier*. Each employer wrote in it the date the worker was hired and the date they left, and a worker […]
In 1569 the Duke of Alba, governing the Netherlands for Philip II, asked the States General for three new taxes. The first, the Hundredth Penny, was a one-time levy of one percent on all property. The second, the Twentieth Penny, […]
In 1268 the Republic of Venice settled on a way to choose its doge that still looks like a puzzle invented to torment students. The Great Council drew thirty of its members by lot. The thirty were cut to nine […]
When competence stops being scarce, who gets to hold the capability?
10 essays · created
Land is a little bit everyone's, and it still doesn't have to belong to the state.
11 essays · created
Self-government at the scale where people actually live: the town, the neighborhood, the watershed.
16 essays · created
The foundation is newly formed. A few programs are already underway; others are still in development — we'll share updates here as they launch.
Ongoing upkeep of the Social Liberty website and feeds, plus allied information sites working in this space (transparentcities.org, on40.org, greenspacesbayarea.org, greenspacesmv.org, and others).
A planned stipend program funding independent researchers to complete and publish research on alternative social and community structures.
A planned part-time or full-time staff role to support day-to-day foundation operations as the organization grows.
Individual events will be listed here with links once they're scheduled.
A monthly public talk and book group discussion on topics in social structures, governance models, and civic life — free to attend, recorded, and posted publicly.
Organizations whose work we read, draw on, and recommend.
mises.org
Research and education in Austrian economics and libertarian political theory, founded in 1982 in Auburn, Alabama.
libertarian-labyrinth.org
Shawn P. Wilbur's archive of anarchist history, texts, and translations, with a focus on mutualism and lesser-known figures.
progressandpovertyinstitute.org
Formerly the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (1925): research, scholarships, and an archive on land, taxation, and the public capture of economic rent.
Social Liberty