The Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) was founded in the summer of 1968, when graduate students and faculty from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Harvard University and Radcliffe College held a working meeting in Ann Arbor just a few weeks before the National Democratic Party Convention in Chicago. URPE’s core purpose is to be an alternative professional organization for left political economists and an intellectual home for academics, policy-makers, and activists who are interested in participating in a left intellectual debate on theoretical and policy issues. The organization opposes all exploitation on the basis of class, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other social/economic/cultural constructs. URPE presents constructive critical analyses of the capitalist system and supports debate and discussion on alternative left visions of a socialist society. URPE was founded by activist-oriented individuals who realized the need for coherent strategy and theory. It has often experienced a tension between theory and activism. Those interested in theory see URPE as an intellectual community to discuss and develop research in left political economy. Those interested in activism see URPE as an organization that can be a proactive resource for non-economists to understand economic issues from a left perspective. Organizational efforts to wed these divergent views has focused on preparation and dissemination of publications and other activities that present alternative left visions of economic analysis.