October 9, 2018
Dear Upside Down World Friends and Readers,
Upside Down World began fifteen years ago, and it is with the memory, connections, friendships, and adventures of those years that we say goodbye. Many of you have noticed our radio silence in recent months. Well, we have decided to cease publishing due to financial and time constraints: after fifteen years of work, UDW is taking a break, perhaps for good. We simply do not have the resources to continue as we have in the past.
The amazing material we’ve been able to publish in UDW will remain online at upsidedownworld.org and available to all. We will also continue using the Upside Down World social media accounts – on Facebook and Twitter – to distribute news and analysis on Latin American politics and social movements. (Please send us stories and resources you would like us to share.)
When UDW was launched in 2003, it was unlikely to survive for more than a few months, let alone thrive and grow continuously through a historic period of leftist resurgence in Latin America, incredible social movement victories, as well as coups, political nightmares, and military violence.
The network of colleagues, writers, friends, readers, and translators that has grown under the UDW umbrella is the glue that has kept us together, the heart and legs that have allowed the publication to march forward all these years. Thanks to you all.
But the story doesn’t end here. A lot of the friendships, collaborations, alliances, and paths strengthened and created throughout our publication have led to new outlets, stories, connections, publications, and directions. In many ways, UDW and the people that intersected here continue to spread out, disperse, and grow.
Onward, friends! Please keep in touch. We will let you know when and if we can return to publishing.
We’ll leave you with the quote from Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano on which our name is based:
“If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn’t we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?”
Thank you,
UDW Editors
Grupo(at)upsidedownworld(dot)org
P.S. If you would like to contribute support web hosting costs or can recommend other funding possibilities, please let us know.