Union For Radical Political

What Union For Radical Political does

The Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) is an interdisciplinary, nonprofit membership organization of academics and activists, founded in 1968 and headquartered at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Its mission is to promote the study, development, and application of radical political economic analysis to social problems. URPE serves university faculty, graduate students, heterodox economists, and social-justice activists primarily in the United States but with a globally distributed readership via its journal.

URPE's core products are the peer-reviewed journal Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE), published quarterly through a core partnership with Sage Publications; the quarterly URPE Newsletter; conference programming at major academic venues (ASSA, EEA, Left Forum, SEA, WSSA); teaching and educational resources; the URPE Forum online member platform; and the annual Dissertation Fellowship and Hazel Dayton Gunn Golden Pencil Award. Underlying technology is non-proprietary: a WordPress-based website (urpe.org), a NeonCRM membership portal, and standard email listserv and social channels (Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube). No proprietary platforms, AI/ML systems, or software products are described.

URPE generates revenue primarily through annual individual membership subscriptions, journal royalties and institutional access via Sage, donations (including a sustainer program), and minor conference-related fees. Membership dues are not publicly disclosed on the website. Governance is exercised through a volunteer Steering Committee, elected coordinators, and a single staffed national office (Steve Theberge), with the journal's Managing Editor (Enid Arvidson, Ph.D.) operating from the University of Texas at Arlington. The organization has no parent company, no external investors, and no disclosed financial statements.

Name

Union For Radical Political

Legal name

Union for Radical Political Economics

Website

https://urpe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) is a 1968-founded nonprofit membership organization of academics and activists that publishes the Review of Radical Political Economics journal, hosts academic conferences, and runs caucuses, fellowships, and educational resources for the radical and heterodox economics community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Membership Organization

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Nonprofit, Social Services & Community Development Congresses (THAHAJAO)

Keywords

• Heterodox economics association
• Academic membership organization
• Political economics research
• Peer-reviewed journal publishing
• Academic conference programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Amherst

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: URPE generates primary revenue through annual membership fees. Members receive access to the Review of Radical Political Economics journal, the newsletter, the listserv, member resources, and discounts on events. Membership can be joined or renewed through the organization's neoncrm.com portal.
2. Journal Publishing: The Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE) is published through Sage Publications. While the journal is primarily accessible through membership, this represents a core programmatic activity that could include institutional subscriptions and article processing charges.
3. Donations: URPE accepts donations through their platform (urpe.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donations). Donations support the organization's work and mission activities including the Dissertation Fellowship program.
4. Conference Fees: URPE organizes and participates in conferences (ASSA, Easterns, Left Forum, SEA, WSSA). While many conference sessions are part of larger conference programs, there may be associated fees for special events or workshops.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

URPE is an interdisciplinary membership organization of academics and activists founded in 1968 to promote the study, development and application of radical political economic analysis to social problems. It sells annual memberships that bundle access to the peer-reviewed Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE) journal, a quarterly newsletter, an online member forum, caucus participation, and discounts on conferences, and it organizes scholarly programming at major academic conferences.

Product overview

URPE (Union for Radical Political Economics) is an interdisciplinary academic membership organization, not a technology company. Its core offerings consist of the peer-reviewed Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE) journal, the quarterly URPE Newsletter, and educational/teaching resources. The organization also facilitates conference programming at major academic economics conferences (ASSA, EEA, Left Forum, SEA, WSSA), offers a Dissertation Fellowship, and provides the URPE Forum as an online member platform. All offerings are academic and publishing-focused rather than technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE): The academic journal published by URPE covering radical political economics research

Products and services

• Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sage PublicationscoreTechnology or IntegrationSage Publications serves as the publisher of the Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE), URPE's peer-reviewed journal. This partnership enables the journal's global distribution through academic libraries, institutional subscriptions, and online platforms. Sage handles production, distribution, and indexing services for the journal.
• Design Action CollectiveminorOthersThe Design Action Collective provided website design and development services for urpe.org. Design Action is described as a collective providing graphic design and visual communications for progressive, non-profit, and social change organizations. This is a professional services/vendor relationship.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Political Economy Research Institute (PERI): PERI at UMass Amherst conducts research on political economy, inequality, and labor. It is an emerging/related player: overlapping radical political-economy focus, geographic adjacency to URPE's Amherst headquarters, and intersections with the same academic community.
• Levy Economics Institute of Bard College: The Levy Economics Institute is a research institute publishing public-policy and heterodox economic analysis. It is an emerging player: similar heterodox economics focus, comparable academic publication output, and shared constituency of dissident economists.

Direct peers

• Monthly Review Foundation: Monthly Review is an independent socialist magazine and publisher founded in 1949 by Leo Huberman. It is a direct peer: longstanding radical political-economy publication, similar nonprofit subscription model, and overlapping left-leaning academic and activist readership.
• Association for Social Economics: Association for Social Economics is a nonprofit membership organization that publishes the Review of Social Economy. It is a direct peer: parallel membership and journal-publication model, similar academic audience, and overlapping heterodox economics mission.
• History of Political Economy (HOPE): History of Political Economy is an academic organization and quarterly journal covering the history and methodology of economics. It is a direct peer: similar academic publishing model, similar interdisciplinary economics audience, and comparable niche academic association structure.
• International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE: IAFFE is a membership-based nonprofit association of feminist economists that publishes the journal Feminist Economics through Taylor & Francis. It is a direct peer: similar membership/journal model, similar interdisciplinary academic focus, and overlapping community of heterodox economists.
• Dollars & Sense: Dollars & Sense is a nonprofit magazine collectively produced by radical political economists. It is a direct peer: comparable mission to make radical economics accessible, similar member/donor funding model, and overlapping activist-scholar audience.
• Rethinking Marxism: Rethinking Marxism is an association that publishes the journal Rethinking Marxism and hosts an annual conference. It is a direct peer: similar radical political economy framing, membership-driven model, and comparable niche academic community.

Broad incumbents

• Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET): INET is a large foundation funding and producing heterodox economic research and education. It is a broad incumbent: overlapping mission to challenge mainstream economics, but operating at much greater scale with grant-making and conference programming rather than a membership/journal model.
• American Economic Association (AEA): The AEA is the dominant professional association of academic economists in the US, publishing multiple journals and running the ASSA meetings that URPE participates in. It is a broad incumbent: it hosts the conference venue where URPE recruits members and represents the mainstream counterweight to URPE's heterodox mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/urpe1968?lang=en
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCG04jq9uuUh1aT5VzmRLRbA
• Facebookfacebook.com/urpe1968

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Union For Radical Political