Conventional assessments of what constitutes socialism and socialism from below in the U.S. in this historical moment need to begin with participatory observation of how in fact socialism is being conceived of, thought of, debated, and most importantly practiced by a new, radicalized generation.
The mass protests in response to the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis constitute the biggest popular uprising in the US since the 1960s. Join us for a discussion of the opportunities and challenges that exist for making socialist politics relevant to the new rebellion against racism.
A new working-class party will be built primarily through mass struggles like the current uprising and the strikes and workplace demonstrations that took place amidst the pandemic, and through running candidates locally on independent ballot lines.
The DSA National Political Committee report posted on 5/4/20 showed an alarming question that had come to a vote: “Should DSA ask members in swing states to consider voting for Biden?”
Does the history of Minnesota’s Farm-Labor Party in the 1920s and 1930s hold any lessons for socialists today? Kim Moody responds to an article by Eric Blanc.
A socialist movement is being revived, and people are watching in real time how the capitalist system drives their lives into chaos again and again.
No matter how much times passes, or how often history is declared to have ended, the debate over socialist strategy and organization always returns.
Ashley Smith and Charles Post respond to criticisms of their article “Facing Reality: The Socialist Left, the Sanders Campaign and Our Future.”
The Democratic Party is a capitalist party, it cannot be reformed, and we do need a new party. But that understanding alone does not help us to navigate the troubled waters of politics in the United States.
Leftists must tolerate disagreements and work together—must even work with left-liberals—because a worldwide transition between modes of production takes an inordinately long time and takes place on many different levels.
The struggle against capital has not been defeated, just because Sanders was unsuccessful in his bid for the presidency. Instead, what we’re witnessing is more and more people becoming engaged with the notion of worker struggle.
Not many leftists need convincing that Biden is uninspiring; but you can’t effectively fight this year’s lesser evil with some misty vision of a better political alternative in some indefinite future.
Capitalism is a failed system that offers more pandemics, more economic crisis, more climate disaster, more oppression, and more war.
I suggest closing your eyes and visualizing what U.S. politics would have looked like if Bernie Sanders had not launched his campaigns for President.
In an article last year (“Marxism, the Democratic Republic, and the Undemocratic U. S. Constitution,” New Politics, 7/30/2019) I argued that there are major political and historical blind spots and inconsistencies in current debates over socialist strategy. The main inconsistency . . .
The Sanders challenge is over and the question for socialists is, where do we go from here? Up until recently this debate has ranged along familiar lines: the need for independent political action and the obstacles socialists face in recruiting . . .
When I heard that people who had been prominent in SDS had written an open letter about the importance of supporting Joe Biden, I immediately wanted to read it, because long ago that was my organization.
In their recent article for New Politics, Charlie Post and Ashley Smith lay out what is a serious point of view within the socialist movement. I particularly agree with their insistence that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) can play . . .
Bernie Sanders Suspends his Campaign
In the aftermath of Bernie Sanders’s suspension of his presidential campaign, analysis of what went wrong and possible ways forward will be essential, if painful, for the American Left. Understandably, those who went “all in” for . . .
In his recent piece “Mass Politics, Not Movementism, Is the Future of the Left,” Paul Heideman aims to convince the Left that a strategy built primarily around “mass politics” (by which he implicitly means national electoral activity) is still the . . .
