sending delegations to the Labor Notes From the National Director conference this April. They are orga- nizing Climate Strikes for Earth Day, Fund-a-Thons for Abortion Access in Inspired by YDSA April, and demands for elected officials BY MARIA SVART action. National co-chairs Amelia Blair- at all levels to sign the National Nurses Smith and Kristen Cervero reminded United’s People Over Profits Pledge, ’m writing this YDSAers to organize events after their stating that they will not take contribu- column before state primaries to invite students to join tions from executives, lobbyists, and Super Tuesday, DSA and become part of the struggle PACs affiliated with the Partnership for Iso rather than com- for the long haul as well as to take rank- America’s Health Care Future and their ment on the presi- and-file union jobs in key industries af- corporate backers. dential campaign, ter graduation. We gave the attendees a We’re working alongside ally or- I’ll talk about the copy of We Own the Future: Democrat- ganizations with a multiracial work- national conference ic Socialism, American Style (reviewed ing class base, such as the Center for of the Young Demo- on page 14), along with a discussion Popular Democracy Action, Make the cratic Socialists guide (at fund.dsausa.org/resources). Road By Walking, People’s Action, of America (YDSA), which I attended [The DSA Political Education commit- and Dream Defenders, among others in February 14-16 in Chicago. These young tee is developing educational program- the People Power for Bernie indepen- socialist organizers have more at stake ming linked to the book.] dent expenditure coalition. than any of us, and while they were very Why do I give this description of the Most important, we’re able to do pumped about Bernie Sanders and many YDSA conference? Because it high- all this amazing work because we are are volunteering long hours back home lights a major strength of DSA: We fight funded and run democratically by you, for the Sanders campaign or a campus hard to get our members and allies into our members. We are unbought and un- YDSA for Bernie operation, the prize office, but we will still be organizing bossed, fueled largely by the small-dol- they have their eyes on is a lasting so- long after election day. If we put Bernie lar contributions of tens of thousands cialist movement. in the White House, we can expect the of democratic socialists. Some 275 students traveled from Ari- capitalist class to do everything in its At the 2019 DSA national conven- zona and West Virginia, California and power to hamstring his agenda. tion, delegates passed a resolution to Florida, and in between. Colleges, high More than a hundred DSA-endorsed grow our membership to 100,000 by schools, and even a middle school were candidates are currently in public of- 2021. One of our most recent new represented. We met in the union hall of fice. DSA chapters across the country members is Phillip Agnew, who ended the legendary Chicago Teachers Union. are teaching each other how to build his rousing YDSA conference speech Conference sessions included a volunteer field programs through door by declaring that he had joined. mix of panels, skills workshops, and knocking for candidates or legislative I hope you will join this member- discussion breakouts, a chance for stu- pressure campaigns like Medicare for ship campaign by asking your friends, dents to canvass with DSA for Bernie All or public energy. DSA for Bernie neighbors, family, and coworkers to on Sunday afternoon, and a speech alone (our independent expenditure join DSA. And I hope you will find from Phillip Agnew—organizer, artist, effort), has knocked on 381,000 doors the closest DSA chapter and attend a and founder of the Dream Defenders— as of mid-February. This is possible meeting or event. You may be nervous that brought down the house. In my because we have trained up members about attending your first meeting speech, I touched on my own history of to bypass the consultant class and sup- if you don’t know anyone. But, as I organizing and emphasized that the re- port working-class candidates to run said to students at the conference, go- lationships the students build now and winning campaigns that rely on direct ing alone to my first YDSA meeting the lessons they teach each other and voter conversations instead of expen- when I was a student was a decision learn from more experienced genera- sive radio or television ads. that changed the trajectory of my life. tions of DSAers will prepare them for And members are organizing their I realized I actually wasn’t alone, and the work ahead. workplaces into unions or strengthen- that there’s power in solidarity. Now I YDSA promoted good praxis, or ing their existing unions, setting up ask you, in this critical moment, to take the alchemy of combining thought and chapter-based labor committees, and that step.

Executive Editor: Maria Svart Democratic Socialists of America promotes Editor: Maxine Phillips a humane international social order based on equitable distribution of resources, meaningful Editorial Team: Laura Colaneri, Meagan Day, work, a healthy environment, sustainable growth, Christine Lombardi, Stephen Magro, Don gender and racial equality, and non-oppressive McIntosh, Christine Riddiough relationships. Equality, solidarity, and democracy Democratic Left (ISSN 1643207) is published quarterly at Founding Editor: Michael Harrington can only be achieved through international political and social cooperation aimed at ensuring that P.O. Box 1038, New York NY 10272. Periodicals postage paid at (1928-1989) New York, NY (Publication No. 701-960). economic institutions benefit people. We are Subscriptions: $25 regular, $30 institutional. Cover: Blue Delliquanti, art; Alan Duda, layout dedicated to building truly international social Layout: Don McIntosh movements—of unions, environmentalists, feminists, Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 1038, New York and people of color—which together can elevate NY 10272. (212) 726-8610. Signed articles express the opinions Book Review Editor: Stephen Magro global justice over brutalizing global competition. of the authors and not necessarily the organization. Online Editor: Christine Lombardi

PAGE 2 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 Building DSA with Bernie BY ALEC RAMSAY-SMITH involved in the chapter. New Orleans DSA also holds events beyond Bernie ernie Sanders is running an canvasses to get new folks engaged unprecedented class strug- in organizing, including voter regis- gle campaign for president tration drives and tabling in targeted Bthat is capturing the imagination areas from the Mardi Gras parade to a and enthusiasm of millions across high school. The chapter is also build- the country. Students, union mem- ing up a pressure campaign with med bers, Walmart and warehouse student organizations demanding the workers, teachers, and the rest city council endorse Medicare for All, of the multiracial working class and potential crowd canvasses at hos- are donating and volunteering pitals or other tactics will be a strong in droves because they believe onboarding point for activated Bernie they can meaningfully change supporters who know we need a move- their lives through a Bernie vic- ment past election day to get this done. tory. But, even if Bernie wins the Chapters often struggle making presidency, it will take much more membership asks, but Los Angeles to enact his democratic socialist DSA has used its DSA for Bernie platform. campaign to bring in dozens of new That’s where DSA comes in. members by integrating deliberate Our membership formed an in- and repeated membership asks in their dependent expenditure campaign public events. During a recent city- for Bernie, with our own mes- wide canvass, where more than 150 saging and the ability to tailor the volunteers attended, chapter leaders work to local conditions. As of DavidHellman.art had DSA members identify themselves February, more than 70 chapters in the crowd, had volunteers make dues have launched active DSA for Bernie pitches, and set up a signup station for campaigns, and these chapters are al- this. And because we live in Tennessee, non-member volunteers. This single ready making a real impact on the elec- the battle here is completely during the canvass netted around 20 new DSA tion. More than that, these chapters are primary, so we need to think beyond the members for the chapter. At the chapter’s structuring their campaigns to ensure we Bernie campaign to build power in Ten- debate watch parties, speakers go up dur- leave this primary season with a stron- nessee after March 3.” ing commercials to talk about their cam- ger, larger DSA that is ready to fight the Chattanooga’s DSA for Bernie cam- paign, and work to get non-members to ruling class and win our transformative paign has focused on canvassing within sign up. By practicing and experimenting demands. specific districts of the city, in places how to best make pitches, DSA is pre- In the Chattanooga DSA, their DSA where DSA is considering running down paring to make the most of our potential for Bernie campaign is bringing in new ballot candidates in the future. The Bernie bump. members while laying the groundwork chapter is also working to build canvass- This is a unique moment. If chapters for campaigns after the primary. In a ing skills and lists for a future pressure are strategic about bringing Bernie sup- city without a formal Bernie field office, campaign demanding a police oversight porters into DSA, we have the opportu- the local DSA chapter has attracted new board in Chattanooga and other potential nity to build a 100,000-strong socialist active members who were looking for a campaigns around cash bail or housing organization. We are challenging chap- way to support Bernie. This chapter, with justice. ters to host public-facing events to bring around 100 members, regularly holds Meanwhile, New Orleans DSA is in Bernie’s base shortly after their state canvasses with around 15 volunteers, finding new ways to bring in Bernie primaries and to plan long-term to keep and several of the people leading these supporters and challenge them to get them in our movement. Chattanooga, canvasses (including a chapter co-chair) involved in their organization. Louisiana New Orleans, Los Angeles DSA, and have come from this new wave of mem- is another state that lacks a strong Bernie others have already gotten the ball roll- bers. One chapter leader outlines their campaign presence, so Bernie support- ing, and I can’t wait to watch chapters strategy: “Obviously Bernie’s the leader ers have been turning out to DSA events with and without DSA for Bernie cam- of this giant wave of support across the and making recent general meetings paigns seize this moment to grow bigger nation, and we have to capitalize on and canvasses some of the largest in the and stronger. < chapter’s history. Through its DSA for Paid for by Democratic Socialists Bernie campaign, the chapter is working Central Connecticut DSA member of America (dsausa.org) and not to set up regular phone banks to Bernie Alec Ramsay-Smith is the campaign authorized by any candidate or supporters identified from canvasses to manager for the DSA for Bernie candidate’s committee. invite them to future meetings or to get independent expenditure campaign.

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 3 How the Bipartisan War on Immigrants Explains Politics as We Know It There’s a profound realignment coming, and U.S. anti-immigrant politics is on the way out.

BY DANIEL DENVIR onald Trump is in the White House, so it might surprise you to learn that U.S. support for Dimmigrant rights is at a historic high. In 1994, 63% of Americans agreed that “immigrants are a burden on the country because they take jobs, housing and health care,” according to the Pew Research Center. By 2019, 28% thought that, while 62% agreed that “immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents.” The Republican Party has made xe- nophobia a cornerstone of its politics. But Democratic voters have moved in the opposite direction. And fast. Until a decade ago, Republicans and Democrats made it possible. held similar opinions on immigration. Bernie has a stellar immigration Then they diverged sharply. Last year, The Left wins plan, but it’s his universal class-struggle 83% of Democrats had positive views when it embraces politics that has been key to drawing the of immigrants, compared to 38% of support of Latinos, who’ve long been Republicans. And Republicans who op- a capacious and central to an emerging multiracial U.S. pose immigration have come to oppose inclusive “we the working class and its labor struggles. For it in more brazenly racist terms, growing decades, immigrants have been stigma- more likely since Trump took office to people” against tized for using social services, softening believe that the United States risks losing up the public for an attack on everyone’s its identity if it is too open to immigra- economic elites. social services. Sanders’s proposal for tion. At the same time, immigrants and Medicare for All includes undocumented people, a radical break with an ugly his- an increasingly diverse Democratic Party long-term decline. base have emphatically supported of im- tory of using racism and xenophobia to This polarization presents dangers, attack the welfare state. migrant rights and freedom. The task of as when Trump moves to terrorize the Left is to join the immigrant rights The Right wins when it uses racism asylum-seekers and ban Muslims and to divide ordinary people against one an- movement in forcing Democratic politi- Africans. But it also provides immense cians to catch up to their base—or, if other. The Left wins when it embraces a opportunities for the immigrant rights capacious and inclusive “we the people” necessary, to replace those politicians. movement, because the bipartisan war Under Presidents Bill Clinton, George against economic elites. That is why on immigrants can’t continue as such we’re starting to win right now. W. Bush, and Barack Obama, the war without bipartisan public support. It’s on immigrants was bipartisan. But esca- During the 1990s, Bill Clinton co- an opportunity for the socialist Left to opted Republican nativism, painting im- lating enforcement and the spectacular put immigrant workers at the core of an demonization of immigrants provoked a migrants as a welfare drain and criminal agenda that transforms this country for threat. With support from both parties, powerful movement in response. Starting all workers. in 2006, that movement began to weaken Congress militarized the border and It’s no coincidence that immigrants passed laws that connected the deporta- xenophobia’s hold on the Democratic and their children—Latinos and Mus- base, even as Republican xenophobia tion machine to the country’s criminal lims in particular—are now core to Ber- justice system. It also made deportations become more radical. Today, nativism nie Sanders’s base. Sanders pledges not is increasingly a project of a right wing more difficult to fight, and deportees’ only to end the war on immigrants but exclusion more permanent. After the that—while tenaciously using anti-dem- also to transform the rotten system that ocratic levers to maintain power—is in attacks of September 11, 2001, immi-

PAGE 4 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 grants came to be portrayed as a terrorist threat, and the deportation machinery WISDOM OF THE ELDERS was attached to the national security state. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama (the latter earning the moniker “Deporter in Chief”) pushed Staying in it for the long haul for more deportations and more border BY CHRISTINE RIDDIOUGH crackdowns—in the hope of winning right-wing members of Congress over to ne of the biggest dangers for activists is burnout. We asked some long- “comprehensive immigration reform,” timers (about 500 years of combined activism) how they’ve paced which combined legalization of undocu- themselves to stay the course. The questions were, “How have you mented people with guestworker pro- Omanaged to remain active and committed over the years? How do you avoid grams and new enforcement measures. burnout?” Answers have been edited for length. A longer version appears in The right wing, however, consistently the online version of Democratic Left. refused to support anything that looked RON BAIMAN: Forge close, lifelong friendships with other comrades! like “amnesty.” They accepted the crack- downs as a free gift, offering nothing MIRIAM BENSMAN: We need a loving community to sustain ourselves. in return—all while further radicalizing When I have descended into meanness, I have always regretted it per- their position and accusing Democrats of sonally AND found it counterproductive. advocating open borders. Any Democrat who defeats Trump JULES BERNSTEIN: Socialist thought and activism have been satisfying, will likely at minimum reverse escala- sometimes frustrating, but never dull. tions in the long-running war on im- PAUL BUHLE: Stay loose. New challenges will happen, and with them migrants—such as his Muslim ban and new learning. deep cuts to refugee admissions. We on the socialist Left must work with orga- DUANE CAMPBELL: Select campaigns and efforts that can make a dif- nizations like the National Day Laborer ference, and then focus on those. Organizing Network and Movimiento Cosecha and others in fighting for just CARL DAVIDSON: Triage your tasks—those you are good at, those bills and executive actions that demilita- you want to learn, and those you’re not so interested in. Drop the last rize the border, legalize undocumented bunch. Learn to say “no” nicely, learn to delegate to others, and train immigrants, and break the ties between them when you can. the criminal justice and immigration en- BILL MOSLEY: The biggest factor is my relationships with other long- forcement systems— rejecting all com- time activists. I figure as long as they can keep going, I can, oo.t promise with the nativist Right. What history demonstrates is that MAXINE PHILLIPS: A sense of solidarity with current and past socialists such compromises are not only mor- has sustained me. My religious faith gives me perspective. My family ally odious as policy but also disastrous and friends give me emotional strength. politically. For decades, the liberal es- tablishment has abetted nativist politics MICHELE ROSSI: Make time for friends, family, and fun. Access to good and caused misery for immigrants. But quality psychotherapy at some key moments in my life has helped, too. worker freedom depends on immigrant Stay curious and open. freedom, because immigration status is MAX SAWICKY: Figure out a way to live the way you want that accom- used to divide the working class. And modates your activism. If you don’t have some basic foundation of immigrant freedom depends on worker contentment, nobody will want to be around you. freedom, because immigrant struggles on the job are inseparable from their KURT STAND: Sometimes we can do more, sometimes less according struggles for legal status. The good news to the rhythms of our own life. Teach what you know but also listen and is that immigrants are at the center of a learn from those younger than yourself. U.S. working class that is starting to fight back and win. < PEG STROBEL: Find something that advances your politics and that you enjoy doing. Find friends, not just comrades, in your political work. The friendships will sustain you when the political work feels like a slog. Providence DSA member Daniel Denvir is a visiting fellow in MILTON TAMBOR: I have adopted Michael Harrington’s model of the International and Public Affairs at long distance runner [who] understands that a radical agenda worth Brown University, host of The Dig pursuing must be grounded in political reality. podcast on Jacobin Radio, and author of All-American Nativism: How JAMES WILLIAMS: Learn to pick your fights and, most important, have a the Bipartisan War on Immigrants life—other ways to nurture yourself. For years, I used alcohol—not one Explains Politics as We Know It of my better choices. (Verso, 2020).

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 5 We must intensify existing democracy A conversation with Louisville DSA member Robert LeVertis Bell What are some of the most pressing is- sues that are facing District Four? When people in my district talk about the problems that the city is facing, they go immediately to talking about the schools: police in the schools, segregation in the schools, the teacher strikes, the adminis- tration’s bullying of teachers. They talk about schools first. Then they talk about housing. They talk a lot about gentrification, the fact that this particular district is home to pretty much all of the most acutely gentrifying areas in the city of Louisville, each of them in different stages of the process. People want somebody to stand up to the city’s runaway developer-centric politics. The other thing people are most con- cerned about is what we would call aus- terity politics in the city. Last year, when Across the country, DSA members are running for office there was a budget shortfall, the mayor and getting elected. Even when they “lose,” democratic so- responded by instituting some draconian cuts to city services. They wanted to cialism wins because it becomes part of the conversation, close our nearby fire station. They al- as it is in every industrialized country except this one. ready closed the library, and turned it into Robert LeVertis Bell is a public school teacher and DSA a community center, then they closed the community center. They want to close the member who’s running for Metro Council in Louisville, public pools, they want to close an addi- Kentucky’s District Four. Nick Conder, also a member of tional library, they want to take an ambu- Louisville DSA, spoke to him about why he decided to run. lance off the streets. People are concerned about this. They want to live in a city that What made you decide to jump into She’s one of those people that every provides a baseline of a decent life. politics? This is the time to be bold city has, the stalwarts of the black You’re open about being a democratic with regard to our electoral strategy in community in the civil rights tradition. socialist. What does socialism mean DSA. I believe that DSA should be us- I’ve been an activist, radical orga- to you? I want to expand democracy. ing elections to expand the influence of nizer, and anticapitalist since I was a Where there is not democracy in our socialism and to organize people into teenager. I was involved in anti-police communities or our neighborhoods, I socialism. The per- brutality organizations want there to be community councils son who previously “Democratic and various anti-fascist and tenants councils. Where there are had the seat I’m organizations as a not unions, I want there to be unions in running for decided socialism means young person. Now the workplace. Essentially, where there not to run. When strengthening I’m 39 years old, and are not existing democratic structures, I that opportunity I’m a teacher. I’ve want to make more of them. I also want presented itself, I political been involved for to intensify existing democracy. If there realized that this democracy into the past two years in is already a union, I want to make it a particular race was rank-and-file teacher stronger union. There’s already some one that I was well our economy.” organizing. We’ve had semblance of democracy at the ballot suited to win. And some work stoppages box, but I want to increase people’s level I thought it was a here in Louisville and of access and choice. Democratic social- good test case for establishing an elec- throughout Kentucky, which have got- ism means strengthening political de- toral presence in Louisville of the sort ten a lot of attention as part of the Red mocracy and expanding democracy into of politics that DSA advocates. for Ed teacher strike wave. So all of our economy. It means giving people that together, from black activism to Where do your politics come from? control over more and more aspects of anticapitalism to the teacher revolt, has I grew up in a movement household. our social life in a democratic way. shaped my politics. My grandmother is a local activist. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

PAGE 6 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 Taking Back International Women’s Day Women’s Day was begun by order to draft a joint call for strikes and actions on March 8 and 9 in response U.S. socialists; it’s time we not only to the international rise of a reclaimed it. misogynistic, transphobic, and racist far Right and in defense of abortion and BY CINZIA ARRUZZA H. J. RES. 316 bodily self-determination, and against FEB. 2, 1994 JOINT gender-based violence, but also in pro- he United Nations instituted Inter- RESOLUTION test against exploitation, the casualiza- national Women’s Day (IWD) in tion of labor, and extractivism. The call, 1975—or so the official story runs. DESIGNATING MARCH 8, 1994, moreover, emphasized the importance TFew remember not only that the origins AS of reproductive labor and insisted on the of March 8 lie in the history of the inter- ‘INTERNATIONAL relation between productive and repro- national workers’ movement, but that it WOMEN’S DAY’ ductive work under capitalism. was the socialist movement in the United The international feminist strike States that first launched the idea of a movement is a far cry from the dis- day devoted to women’s rights centered course of liberal feminism that still on working-class women. In fact, the So- dominates media and public perception cialist Party USA first established a day in the United States. The movement of education and action around women’s does not demand “equal opportunity rights called “Woman’s Day” in 1908, DIED IN A in domination” for elite women and is and the following year U.S. socialists PREVIOUS not interested in electoral quotas, “di- held demonstrations in several cities to CONGRESS versity,” and individual empowerment demand women’s suffrage. In 1910, Ger- at the expense of other women. Rather, man socialist Clara Zetkin proposed the it insists on the connection between transformation of the U.S. Woman’s Day gender oppression and capitalism and into an international day of action—In- challenges all the institutions and prac- ternational Working Women’s Day— tices that contribute to the oppression which, in 1914, started being celebrated Megan Ganey of women and queer people: the state, on March 8. Three years later, on March and Argentina (where they protested the police, the job market, imperialism 8, 1917, Russian women workers took to against femicides). The 2017 strike took and neo-colonialism, and xenophobic the streets in St. Petersburg, organizing a place in dozens of countries: in some, migration policies. strike to demand bread and peace. It was it managed to stop work in hundreds of In past years, the spirit of the femi- the beginning of the Russian Revolution. workplaces in addition to mobilizing nist strike movement was brought to When the United Nations declared millions of women in the streets. In oth- the United States by the International IWD in 1975, it took care to remove the ers—such as the United States—it had a Women’s Strike (IWS-US), a national word “working” from the title. This was significantly more modest size. network of feminist, queer, and anticap- only a first step toward the transforma- But everywhere, women who de- italist collectives and organizations that tion of the day from a demonstration cided to mobilize felt empowered by the organized wildcat work stoppages, ral- of working women’s struggles to a day international solidarity and coordination lies, and marches in a number of cities. of festivity in celebration of “women” that had made the day of actions and However, the United States continues as such, returning to an essentialist or strikes possible. The strike movement to be an exception, insofar as no mass biology-based identity of women as nat- continued to grow over the following feminist movement has yet emerged. ural mothers and caregivers. Once the years. In 2018, the Spanish feminist This weakness is due to a number memory of the women strikers who had movement managed to organize a five- of factors. Over the course of the last fought for a better present and future million-strong workplace general strike decades, the United States has seen the was gone, IWD became a day of festiv- demanding cambiarlo todo, to change emergence of a well-funded network of ity like any other, at best an occasion for everything. In 2019, the strike move- liberal feminist organizations and media mimosa-based brunches with girlfriends ment spread to new countries such as with no significant relation to class poli- and greeting cards. Chile—where it organized a massive tics and with a political agenda at odds Over the past three years, however, demonstration that was, at that time, with anti-capitalist and anti-racist femi- millions of cis and trans women have the largest street protest since the end nism. One of the difficulties faced in the rediscovered the militant history and of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship— past three years has been the lack of vis- spirit of March 8. In 2017, a new inter- and Switzerland, where it organized a ibility and solid organizational infrastruc- national feminist movement called for 400,000-people-strong workplace strike ture of the feminist strike movement in the first international women’s strike. in June. the United States, especially in contrast The initiative was inspired by the mas- This year, activists from Argentina, with the enormous financial resources sive women’s strikes that took place in Chile, Italy, France, and Mexico, and and visibility of liberal-leaning women’s the fall of 2016 in Poland (where they many other countries met digitally in managed to stop a total ban on abortion) CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 7 Rising labor militancy has sparked a new conversation about rebuild- ing and even restructuring the labor The Weight of History movement. What’s your take on this debate? I’m excited we’re having the Lauren Jacobs is a longtime labor and community organizer conversation about revitalizing the labor who now leads the Partnership for Working Families. Puya movement, thinking big about legisla- Gerami spoke with her about building the power of the Left tive changes to expand the chance of at a time of opportunity. recreating mass organizations, and imagining how to organize industries What is the Partnership for Working anything done. We can’t reach it in one where we don’t yet know what struc- Families? The Partnership is a network fell swoop. What we can do is ask our- tures and strategies are required. of permanent coalition organizations in selves in the present, How is what we’re But let’s remember that the last period 20 different metropolitan regions across doing shaping the common sense? What of rapid union expansion relied on mass the country. Our orga- is the hegemony we need to secure to unrest: not symbolic actions, but actions nization arose during reach our goal? What is every action meant to shut down the economy in a the urban construction we’re taking in the present laying the particular city or region. That’s how leg- boom of the early ground for in the long term? islative reform was won. The question 2000s. We were part Building off of André Gorz’s view of today is, “What kind of worker power of the movement that non-reformist reforms, we need to think do we need to generate so that the forc- focused on the central about enacting change not for the sake es against us won’t dare get in the way question of how to of reform but for the sake of advancing of the right to organize?” increase the power of our long-term agenda. The opportuni- Our movement—including trade workers. Who bene- ties in this moment aren’t the endgame; unions, worker centers, and other labor Lauren Jacobs fited and who suffered they’re steps along the way. organizations—also has to find ways to overcome our fragmentation so we can from development? What do you mean by hegemony? How were public dollars used? How did formulate strategy in a more coordi- What steps are required for us to nated and cohesive way. development affect workers, community begin building that hegemony? What members, and the environment? We are the pitfalls to avoid? You’ve been organizing in the labor worked to bring together labor and com- The kind of hegemony we need is to movement for more than two de- munity so they weren’t pitted against shift the common sense by advancing cades. How would you characterize one another but in fact could act as the demand of abundance for all. One of the possibilities we face in our current allies in the struggle. This work led to neoliberalism’s first hegemonic attacks moment? Gramsci said, “The old world the creation of the community benefits was against the very idea of society it- is dying and the new world struggles to agreement, a key tool that our members self—an attempt to return to the nuclear be born. Now is the time of monsters.” like the Los Angeles Alliance for a New family as the central political subject This is a moment where we have the Economy (LAANE) developed and and not the commons. We have to re- potential to achieve a great hegemonic many organizations use today. vive collective responsibility. leap forward. Twenty years ago, I never But we’ve also grappled with self- Activism around Medicare for All would have thought that we’d have criticism. Although our campaigns have is a great example. We’re arguing that popular candidates, even on the presi- improved the lives of working people, healthcare is sacrosanct, a right that dential stage, calling for expansion of we as a Left still haven’t tipped the shouldn’t be commodified. We have the social safety net by taxing the rich. balance of power. The work that our or- more than enough resources if we wrest I wish we were better organized going ganization is doing right now still uses them away from those at the top to en- into this moment. A lack of institutions the tactics we’ve used in the past, but sure that everyone receives the medical and organizations at scale is a challenge pursues a long-term strategic agenda for care they need. we face today. But this is an opportunity our regions. Every fight we’re taking If that’s the shift we want to make, to make a major shift—an opportunity on targets the forces harming working- we have to think about who we need to we have to seize. class communities and tries to build ally with us. What is the historical bloc At the same time, we have to un- permanent organization and leadership required to win? What is the collection derstand that if we lose, we’re not just among our base. of forces we need to drive this shift in going back to the neoliberal status quo How do you balance this long-term how the public thinks about a particu- of the last 40 years. The White House strategic agenda with the need to win lar issue? One big pitfall is mistaking regime has moved further toward an immediate, concrete gains? mobilizing for organizing by focusing authoritarian state. We should take seri- only on the people who absolutely agree ously the incredible weight of history One of the folks in our network put it < best, so I’ll paraphrase him: “Death to with us, as opposed to searching for al- that’s upon all of us. incrementalism! Long live incremental- liances with those who may have differ- ism!” Of course, in a way we have to be ent points of view but who align with us Puya Gerami is a member of Central incrementalist in our thinking, because on the central issue and should join our Connecticut DSA. if we sat out and refused to fight except bloc to advance it. for our ultimate goal, we’d never get

PAGE 8 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 National Political Committee (NPC) Report Elected at the convention, ity at the national level so that we can re- NPC Steering Committee main in this fight for the long haul. This the National Political can take the form of tweaks, like chang- Committee (NPC) is DSA’s Erika Paschold, Lincoln, NE ing how we prepare for NPC meetings leadership body. Jennifer Bolen, San Francisco, CA so there’s more time for review and dis- Kristian Hernandez, North Texas cussion ahead of time. It also means big Natalie Midiri, Philadelphia, PA BY MARIANELA D’APRILE commitments, like one-third of the NPC Sean Estelle, Chicago, IL serving on the Growth and Development ur August 2019 convention set YDSA co-chairs also sit on the SC. Committee, which will be developing many high goals for DSA! Since our strategies for recruitment, member retention, fundraising, and training our then, the National Political Com- NPC members. Omittee (NPC) elected at the convention members so that they all feel confident as At the February 2020 NPC meeting, socialist organizers. has met twice, and members have gotten we set staffing priorities for the orga- It also means being nimble and re- to work. Here’s what we’ve been up to: nization, committing to hires in tech, sponding to things quickly, as we did At the October 2019 NPC meeting, design, and communications so that we when we organized an anti-war call that we elected our five-member steering can bring in new members and be ready is now becoming a coalition. committee, which meets every two to retain them. We discussed our griev- We know we’re living through a weeks and makes decisions between ance structures at length and made plans hugely important moment for democratic NPC meetings. We also assigned each of to strengthen them. And we approved a socialism, and we want DSA to be the our NPC members to national commit- budget for 2020. place where people commit to socialist tees. A central goal for the October 2019 Overall, we want to put our organiza- politics for life! meeting was for us to get to know each tion in a good position to take advantage other and DSA staff. In a practice we of this exciting political moment, recruit hope to continue, we started the meeting Ed. Note: Go to dsausa.org for info on more members, and build the strength of NPC statements and DSA campaigns. with a discussion of our political mo- our movement. We want to build capac- ment, framed by three texts proposed by

fighting tooth and nail against opponents who are funded by mega churches and Join DSA’s National Robert Bell developers. Having this broad nation- Abortion Access CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 wide socialist movement behind me has been an equalizing force, maybe more Fund-a-Thon! How did you come to DSA? than equalizing force. It took me a while to join DSA. I had to For years, DSA chapters across be convinced about the efficacy of elec- Do you see your campaign as an exten- the country have taken part in toral campaigning as a vehicle to build sion of the teacher revolt? an annual bowl-a-thon to raise socialism in the United States. That was Absolutely. The work stoppages here money for the National Network something I was very skeptical about were a crash course in solidarity and of Abortion Funds (NNAF). This for a very long time. But that changed class consciousness for so many people. year, NNAF changed the name with the 2016 Bernie campaign. And as That was invigorating to me, and it to Fund-a-Thon to reflect the I watched more DSA campaigns, I saw helped do away with some cynicism I wide range of creative commu- in real time how people were deepen- had about the future of our city and our nity events. Members of DSA’s ing their political understanding, how state. Being a teacher in that movement Socialist Feminist Working people were becoming strong organizers, has given me a different view of what’s Group are coordinating efforts how people were and still are building possible. across the country right now. something that is approaching a robust If you were to win, how would you see Sign up today, and encourage movement against capitalism in part, your relationship to the socialist move- your chapter to participate! Last though not exclusively, through electoral ment playing out? First off, I intend to year, 79 teams from over 50 DSA campaigns. stay active in my DSA chapter. I do po- chapters took part and raised litical education in our chapter, and I will $137,472 for the NNAF. And we Has being part of DSA’s national net- continue to do that, whether through our expect to meet or exceed that work improved the prospects of your DSA Socialist Night School or through number again this year! campaign? Absolutely. In a real sense, we need finances to run campaigns. the office itself or both. And then I intend to use whatever tools are available to me To help organize or connect to That’s how it works. And I’ve gotten a a DSA fundraiser for NNAF near lot of financial support from people in to foment more political participation you, visit bit.ly/DSAFthon2020 DSA across the country. The reach of throughout my district. More democracy. DSA into local campaigns like mine has That, to me, is how we’re going to build been game changer, especially when I’m socialism. <

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 9 John Sayles: The Griot of Late Capitalism Sayles’s collected works could fill a semester of Socialist Night School.

BY CHRISTINE LOMBARDI hen I said that I was going to interview John Sayles, my friends shouted out their Wfavorite movie titles. Sayles is a movie maker of whom the Washington Post once snarked, “If John Sayles were a ballplayer, they’d call him Lefty—not for his pitching arm but for his politics.” His 18 films so far can obscure Sayles’s literary output, fiction whose propulsive prose tackles similar questions. All of his work explores life under capitalism, with its embedded racism, misogyny, and classism. Sayles asks, “How did we get here?” and “How are we coping?” Born in Schenectady, New York, in 1950, he remembers “being fed this idea of ‘democratic America.’” Sayles soon began to gauge the limits of that ideal. In 1956, on a family trip to Florida, six- year-old Sayles was delighted to see a COLORED sign above a Washington, D.C., water fountain, thinking it offered colored water: maybe red, white, and blue, for the nation’s capital. “It’s bro- ken!” he remembers telling his parents. “That water’s still clear!” His father said softly, “No, John, down here these people have a real problem.” Sayles would learn that the problem wasn’t just

geographical. Ric Kallaher Sayles’s parents were both educators. “My Dad voted Republican because of ing job. Scripts for genre movies like of fear of the Other in these people.” Eisenhower, but that’s because he was Roger Corman’s Piranha earned him Sayles’s films and novels comprise in Eisenhower’s Army.” The household cash for his own, starting in 1980. a syllabus for a class in Life Under Late wasn’t wealthy, and Sayles worked The New Republic sent Sayles to Capitalism—including the assault on minimum-wage jobs both before and af- Detroit in the summer of 1980 to cover and decline of the U.S. labor movement. ter going to Williams College. He chose the Republican National Conven- Like most fiction writers, Sayles looks jobs—as a hospital orderly, as a meat- tion that nominated Ronald Reagan. for the site of conflict—“when two enti- packer (“my first union job!”)— with “The convention on TV, it was all this, ties want the same thing,” especially lots of down time for writing, learning, ‘Morning in America,’’’ Sayles said. when “they don’t share a language for listening. “But on the floor it was a Goldwater that situation.” Such scenarios make The voices he heard populated his convention. I remember talking to two complex characters, he added. “I like stories, from the prize-winning truck- young women wearing ‘Stop ERA’ dramatizing good people making bad ers’ tale “I-80” to the near-classic At the pins. I asked them why, and they said, decisions.” Anarchists’ Convention (a must-read ‘They’ll force us to have abortions.’ As he tackles a subject, Sayles’s for anyone who has been at a left-wing I asked, ‘Have you actually read the main question is, “If people are acting gathering). And when his first novel was amendment?’ and they said ‘NO! That’s like this, what can possibly be going optioned by Hollywood, Sayles learned how they get you.’ And I realized, through their heads?” Sometimes one that writing for movies was a good-pay- there’s a lot of willful ignorance, a lot story idea breeds another. His latest

PAGE 10 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 novel, Yellow Earth, began when he “Also,” Sayles said gently, “try to was contemplating a movie about the avoid having only one” such character. 40 Years of Sayles United States Indian Industrial School “If there’s only one it turns into Sidney in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Poitier. Even Poitier resisted that. If RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN Talking to Native families in Carl- you have multiple characters and kind (1980), Sayles’ first film, a far more isle, near the Marcellus Shale, which of a range of behaviors, it comes down soulful version of Hollywood’s later is subject to fracking, made Sayles to people as people.” adaptation, The Big Chill. think about oil resources on Native Asked why he still makes working- BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET land—and about the current oil frenzy class stories, Sayles quoted his friend (1984). Joe Morton plays a Black sparked by the Bakken Formation, Studs Terkel: “What else do you do all alien who lands in Harlem, offer- 200,000 acres of shale underlying day?” He remains fascinated by the ing a glimpse of 1980s New York. parts of Montana, North Dakota and details of work, any kind of work. One Saskatchewan. “While the Bakken Yellow Earth character works as a pole MATEWAN (1987). This visually was rockin’, network news covered it dancer, “which is a job! And a hard astounding story has engraved the very well,” Sayles said with a laugh. one.” Workplaces are also great listen- 1920s coal miners’ strike in the “Then I had to go there and see what ing places. national memory. it looked like when you fracture land Sayles finds the current wave of EIGHT MEN OUT (1988). A movie that way. I had to meet some of these union organizing encouraging, includ- that takes the labor of baseball se- people,” some of whom became the ing the almost-unions at Walmart, but riously, featuring Charlie Sheen in characters that populate Yellow Earth’s he doesn’t yet see it making a dent in the 1919 “Black Sox Scandal.” story. the right wing’s long, successful anti- The preponderance of nonwhite union campaign. And as anti-corporate CITY OF HOPE (1991). Ever been Native characters made me ask Sayles as his ethos is, Sayles isn’t that im- frustrated by municipal backbiting about the recent controversy sparked pressed with DSA yet. “I think Bernie amid poverty? Sayles’s elegy of a by the novel American Dirt. Jeanine will sink, because of the socialist movie stays in your soul. Cummins’s bestselling narrative of label,” he said. “People don’t under- LOS GUSANOS (1991). One extend- undocumented immigrants at the U.S.- stand that the U.S. economy is already ed family’s story narrates Cuban- Mexico border rang false to critics al- mixed, some capitalist, some not, with American relations before, during, ready suspicious about a white author portions of it quite socialist.” and after the Cuban Revolution. far outside the community. “What are He’s encouraged by DSA’s vis- LONE STAR (1996) set in Texas, is your thoughts on writing outside your ibility, “but I don’t think it’s a move- the first of Sayles’s state songs. community?” I asked. ment,” he said. “It’s a desire, but I Sayles, who has made films in don’t see it where the rubber meets the MEN WITH GUNS (1997). Sayles’s Spanish and films with all-black casts, road. What I see is a lot of words, a lot first Spanish-language film is and whose novels are often similarly of opinions.” based on a story from Guatemala. populated, replied that he didn’t know One final question. Will we survive SUNSHINE STATE (2002) A woman much about that particular contro- late capitalism? returns home to coastal north- versy. “Any writer, unless it’s a diary “I just don’t see people being able ern Florida and must deal with or memoir, you’re writing someone to put the brakes on in time. There will encroaching real estate develop- else—someone older than you are, still be people. But will there be—even ment. younger than you are, a different col- the democracy that we’ve had in my or.” Or someone living in a different lifetime?” CASA DE LOS BABYS (2003). Daryl time; his next novel will be set in 1758 Sayles quotes the main character of Hannah and Maggie Gyllenhaal in what was then the colony of Penn- his 1996 film Men with Guns, a promi- play Americans at the title orphan- sylvania. “I’ve never met any of those nent physician in Central America who age, whose owner is played by people. Basically, it comes down to finally realizes that his own medical Rita Moreno. what you can pull off, how you present students are being killed by the regime SILVER CITY (2004). The discovery it, and what you claim for your book.” for treating poor Indians: “How can I of a corpse threatens to unravel People are free, Sayles added, to know this? How can I accept that as a bumbling local politician’s cam- say, I don’t believe these people. “But the truth and live the life that I want to paign for governor of Colorado. there are always surprises.” live?” < When I asked how to most honestly HONEYDRIPPER (2007). A jazz- create characters from other communi- Christine Lombardi is the author fusion tale set in the fictional town ties, Sayles said simply, “People aren’t of I Ain’t Marching Anymore: of Harmony, Alabama. exotic to me, no matter where they’re Dissenters, Deserters and Objectors AMIGO (2010). Amigo recounts from. Make sure your characters to America’s Wars, forthcoming the Philippine War from the per- aren’t, either.” Also, make sure you from The New Press in November spective of the Filipinos, except know what you’re talking about: Do 2020. for an ambivalent occupier played your homework. Read stuff by people by Garrett Hedlund. who were in their situation. Talk to your friends in that community.

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 11 CHAPTER AND VERSE BY DON MCINTOSH

PREPARING FOR THE DNC IN MILWAUKEE What’s the most hen the 3,979 delegates to will take part in civil society activity to exciting work your the Democratic National show the world that the agenda Bernie Convention gather July 13- wants to take to the White House has chapter is doing? W16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to select overwhelming public support. If you’re Democratic Left wants to spread the a presidential nominee, Bernie Sand- a DSA member and you’re headed to word about the most interesting and ers will be there, and so will hundreds Milwaukee, keep an eye out for email impactful work DSA’s local chapters of DSA members from around the dispatches from DSA national director are doing. No matter how big or country, hosted by the Milwaukee and Maria Svart, and look to the Summer small your chapter is, if it is unifying Madison chapters of DSA. It’s too soon issue of Democratic Left (out in early around an important campaign or to know what’s going to happen at June) for details about how to connect has had a success worth sharing the convention, but inside, some DSA with your comrades for coordinated ac- with the rest of DSA, let us know at [email protected]. members will be serving as official tion and socialist meetups. Bernie delegates following their state party conventions, while outside, others CAMPAIGNING TO LEGALIZE RENT CONTROL IN CHICAGO oday, at least 26 states ban lo- before Christmas with a U-Haul truck, cal rent control ordinances, but unloaded furniture into the street for battles to beat back the bans have a brief occupation and taped a giant Tbegun. In Illinois, Chicago DSA is part “eviction” notice to her office window. of a statewide Lift The Ban Coalition The coalition followed up by mobilizing that includes the Chicago Teachers supporters to ask questions at a January Union, SEIU, and 20 community or- 25 town hall she held for constituents. ganizations. Over the course of three J.B. Pritzker, the billionaire Demo- elections in 2018 and 2019, coalition crat who’s governor of Illinois, said dur- supporters in Chicago gathered sig- ing his 2018 campaign that he’d support natures to put a non-binding advisory lifting the ban. With Senate president question on the ballot in dozens of pre- (and real estate lawyer) John Cullerton cincts: “Should Illinois lift the ban on having resigned in January, rent control rent control?” In every precinct, voters which would lift the ban. advocates see an opportunity to get it said “yes” by more than two-to-one — State representative Ann Williams on the governor’s desk. The bill has unmistakable proof to local politicians sits on a committee that the bill must 14 cosponsors, and hearings on it are that the rent control ban is broadly op- pass through. After she declined an scheduled for March. posed by their constituents. Now the invitation to a Chicago town hall meet- coalition is ramping up pressure on ing on rent control, coalition members lawmakers to support House Bill 255, pulled up outside her office the week FIGHTING FOR WORKER SAFETY IN NEW ORLEANS video captures the horror: On pendent contractors. One undocumented vigils and protests, and mobilize com- the corner of Canal and Ram- Honduran immigrant—who survived munity support for a responsible-bidder part—in a crowded tourist area the collapse but was injured—had ordinance, a law requiring that city con- Ain downtown New Orleans— construc- repeatedly complained to supervisors tracts and subsidies go only to employ- tion workers run for their lives as an about safety issues, and the day before ers who respect labor and safety laws. 18-story under-construction Hard Rock the collapse had noticed the floor be- In the course of that campaign, they’ve Hotel collapses. Three construction neath him moving. Two days after the phone banked, talked with workers at workers were killed that day, October collapse, he was detained by ICE, and construction sites, and built a relation- 12, 2019, and dozens of others were over the protest of Louisiana investi- ship of trust with local building trades injured. The cause is still under inves- gators, was deported. Meanwhile, the unions. tigation, but gross negligence and a bodies of two workers remain in the un- nonunion contractor culture indifferent stable building. After the collapse, DSA to safety played a part. Immigrant work- New Orleans reached out to allies such ers, some undocumented, paid the price. as the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Hospitalized workers weren’t covered Racial Justice to see how the chapter by workers compensation, because their could play a supportive role. Since then, employers had classified them as inde- chapter members have helped organize

PAGE 12 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 SHOWING UP IN SOLIDARITY WITH ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLE IN HAWAII easured from its underwater the blockade continued. base, Maunakea on the island DSA members organized fundraisers of Hawaii is the world’s tallest and collected $6,000 toward the Hawaii Mmountain. For many Native Hawaiians Community Bail Fund, a project of the the dormant volcano is also the most chapter, which can be used to bail out sacred place on the island chain, a burial mountain protectors. A video produced site with over 100 ancient shrines that by chapter co-chair Mikey Inouye about plays a central role in traditional reli- the arrests—retweeted by AOC, Bernie, gious practice. Yet over their objections, and others—went viral with over 1.5 13 gigantic telescopes have been con- million views, and helped bring in over structed on the summit since 1964. Now $100,000 more. Chapter members spread there are plans to build a 14th, the largest the word about calls to action. yet. The $1.4-billion Thirty Meter Tele- For chapter members, the campaign scope would rise 18 stories and occupy is a stand against settler colonialism and five acres on the mountain’s northern empire. Maunakea, now claimed as state plateau, take most of a decade to con- land, once belonged to the Hawaiian struct, and require more than 2,000 truck monarchy, which was overthrown by trips up the mountain. an 1893 coup d’état led by U.S. sugar Many in the Native Hawaiian com- planters. Five years later, the islands munity view it as one more act of des- were annexed as a possession of the ecration. On July 13, 2019, community United States. Hawaii became a state in leaders began an ongoing encampment 1959. In light of Hawaii’s status as a set- to block the access road and stop con- tler colony, DSA members voted in June struction from beginning. A delegation 2018 to remove “America” from the from DSA’s Honolulu chapter traveled name of the chapter, which is now offi-

Mikey Inouye to Maunakea to express solidarity and cially Democratic Socialists of Honolulu. At Maunakea, a delegation of members take part in the encampment, bringing of Democratic Socialists of Honolulu donations and preparing food. On July Watch a powerful 15-minute video make the Kū Kia’i Mauna (protect the 17, a large force of police arrived and about the Maunakea campaign at mountain) hand sign. arrested 38 Native Hawaiian elders. But vimeo.com/378192084

ORGANIZING TENANTS IN COLUMBUS LEADING A WILDCAT STRIKE AT UCSC remarkable wildcat strike began in December among olumbus, Ohio, the 14th-largest city in the United graduate teaching faculty at University of California States, is one of the nation’s fastest growing metro Santa Cruz (UCSC), and members of DSA Santa Cruz areas. But that growth has meant rising rents and Aare involved at every level—as strikers and strike leaders, and as Cdisplacement for poor and working-class residents. What faculty, staff, students, and community members supporting the if tenants organized? To talk about that, Columbus DSA strikers. It began as a grade strike, a refusal to release fall term members have been going door-to-door at two of the most grades until the university increased their stipend: In the shadow complaint-ridden low-income complexes in the Columbus of Silicon Valley, rent in Santa Cruz has become increasingly metro area. Located in Whitehall, a town of 19,000 east of unaffordable. On February 10, the struggle escalated, and many Columbus, complexes totaling 1,160 units are owned and graduate union members stopped teaching classes. Strikers also managed by 5812 Investment Group, a limited liability took to the streets daily and occupied intersections in protest, corporation based in Minneapolis. facing arrests and physical force from police in riot gear. Rents keep going up at the complexes, but conditions are The university began disciplinary proceedings, and on Feb- poor. In some units, tenants leave lights on all night to keep ruary 28 terminated as many as 80 graduate student teachers cockroaches from coming out. In November 2018, faulty from their spring term appointments. More than 500 other grad wiring contributed to a fire that displaced about 60. students have pledged to refuse appointments to replace the Canvassers invite residents to monthly tenants union strikers. meetings where they learn their rights as tenants, get phone The strike is termed a “wildcat” because it isn’t sanctioned numbers to call for legal aid, and talk about the possibil- by the grad workers’ official union, United Auto Workers Local ity of collective action. The response has been almost 2865. A statewide collective bargaining agreement negotiated uniformly positive from the tenants, many of them low- by the union was approved by members only narrowly, and was income women of color. rejected by 83% of union members at UCSC. If they succeed in building a tenants organization, that Now the strike is spreading, starting with rallies on nine other could lay the groundwork to pressure the Whitehall city UC campuses. On February 27, grad faculty began a full teach- council for reforms like just-cause eviction, rent control, or ing strike at UC Santa Barbara and announced a grading strike a better response than condemnation when units are poorly at UC Davis. UC President Janet Napolitano—former Obama maintained. Secretary of Homeland Security—has so far refused to bargain.

SPRING 2020 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PAGE 13 We own A SPECIAL OFFER FOR DSA MEMBERS For a limited time, the future DSA members who BY MAXINE PHILLIPS subscribe to Dissent ou may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” magazine using this link: is better known than the dissentmagazine.org/DSA “Ywords to the “Internationale” but both speak to a universal longing. We’ve all will receive a free copy dreamed big at one time, and We Own of We Own the Future. the Future—a new book edited by Kate Aronoff, Peter Dreier, and Michael Kazin — reminds us why, and why socialists not only dream but do. With a resurgence of the democratic Left Receive 25% off bulk orders of We Own the and new interest in socialist ideas, the Future by going to dissentmagazine.org, writers featured in this anthology have clicking on “store,” ordering, and entering dared to dream big again. Not just prison coupon code DSA at checkout. reform, but prison abolition. Not fair im- Study guides for study groups available at migration laws, but open borders. Not https://fund.dsausa.org/resources subsidies for art that allow free museum nights once a week, but publicly funded man Ideology.” (You can download the large, say, as the number of people who art available to all. Not just paid parental study guide from the DSA Fund website post pictures of their cats on Facebook leave, but 24-hour quality daycare for all. under “resources.”) And when you’re (although there is overlapping member- Not full employment at low-wage estab- done, you’ll have thought about what it ship). But it’s a vibrant band that’s grow- lishments, but guaranteed jobs for all at might mean to govern for the common ing larger every day. Share this book. living wages and in safe conditions. Not good, to live in a non-capitalist system, Talk among yourselves. Love parts of it. predatory lenders, but peoples’ banks. and to argue productively with your Disagree with other parts. Shape your The list could go on. And it does. There co-habitants on our one and only frag- own ideas. And prepare to shape the are 21 essays here. [Full disclosure: I’ve ile earth. If all the authors were in one future. worked with and edited many of the room, sparks would fly. They represent a contributors.] This means that your study spectrum across a broad Left dedicated Maxine Phillips is the volunteer group could meet twice a month and fin- to democracy. This part of the spectrum editor of Democratic Left and a ish in a year with time left over for the of U.S. politics, we might add, has been former national director of DSA. leisure Karl Marx promised in “The Ger- infinitesimal until recently. It’s still not as

ally with radical unions to call for legal of women workers’ rights, and of racial- general strikes. ized and immigrant women currently Women’s Day At the same time, the threats faced by under attack. But solidarity should not CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 women and queer people in the United be limited to one day a year. DSA could and LGBTQI+ organizations. The Wom- States under Donald Trump are no less spread knowledge of this international en’s March, which managed to organize serious than in other countries, at a mo- movement by organizing public events, some of the largest mass demonstrations ment in which Republicans are actively translating and publishing materials pro- in the history of the country, adopted a preparing for a challenge to Roe v. Wade duced by activists in various countries, typical NGO-style, top-down organiza- at the Supreme Court and even the hard- and opening a conversation about build- tional formula (despite having a more won basic civil rights and liberties of ing a militant class-struggle feminist < left-leaning political program and sets trans and queer people are under attack. movement in the United States. of demands), which actively pre-empted Within this context, the DSA has an the emergence of a grassroots nationwide important role to play. There is much to Cinzia Arruzza is Associate movement. Moreover, the frame of labor be learned from the experience of mil- Professor of Philosophy at the New laws that severely constrain the possibil- lions of working-class women and queer School for Social Research. She ity of organizing workplace strikes and people mobilizing around the globe. was one of the main organizers of the weakness of the U.S. labor move- As we go to press, some chapters will the International Women’s Strike in ment make the organization of feminist be showing solidarity by taking to the the United States and co-authored strikes much more difficult than in coun- streets on March 8 and linking this day Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto tries in which the feminist movement can to ongoing struggles for Medicare for All (Verso, 2019). and in defense of reproductive freedom,

PAGE 14 DEMOCRATIC LEFT SPRING 2020 THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION: Be- FURTHER READING tween the Politics of Life and the Geopolitics of Death (Pluto Press, 2019) In The Syrian Revolution, Yasser Munif explores “the subter- Making Sense of Syria ranean ter- Three books on the Syrian arsenal of repression produced ritories of the inequalities and humiliations that Syrian revolt.” conflict, written by leftists, fueled the 2011 revolt. While sup- He offers a provide original insights portive of the uprising and its aims, richly textured, into the defining calamity he offers a trenchant critique of the bottom-up of the 21st century. opposition’s failures — a critique analysis of the from within that should be taken “micropolitical seriously by everyone who cares processes” in BY DANNY POSTEL about Syria. areas outside SYRIA AFTER THE UPRISINGS the control of AUTHORITARIAN APPREHEN- the regime, (Haymarket Books, 2019) Joseph SIONS: Videology, Judgment, and Daher is a Swiss-Syrian activist processes Mourning in Syria (University of he claims are “mostly invisible to and scholar Chicago Press, 2019) Like Daher, who teaches external observers.” He focuses on Lisa Wedeen, who teaches political the experiment in “grassroots gov- at Lausanne science at University in ernance” in Manbij between 2012, the University when the northern Syrian town Switzerland of Chicago, and main- was liberated from the regime, has a lot to and 2014, when it was conquered tains the blog say about the Syria Free- by ISIS. During those two years, way capital- “revolutionary forces reconfigured dom Forever. ism works in His previous the city from the ground up by Assad’s Syria. creating inclusive spaces, forming book, Hezbol- She calls lah: The Politi- horizontal networks, and building the system democratic institutions.” For Munif, cal Economy since Bashar of the Party of God, is a Marxist cri- the “[e]veryday resilience and unre- al-Assad in- lenting organizing” of the people of tique of the Lebanese Islamist or- herited power ganization. In Syria After the Upris- Manbij embodied a “politics of life” from his father in 2000 “neoliberal that he juxtaposes to the “orgy of ings, he analyzes the nature of the autocracy,” and Authoritarian Ap- Assad regime going back to 1970. death” embodied by the regime’s prehensions has a particularly tactics of “starvation, torture, siege, He views the Syrian uprising in the illuminating discussion of the com- context of the region-wide political indiscriminate bombing, chemi- plex role of ideology in maintaining cal attacks, massacres,” on one earthquake that began in Tunisia that system, both before and after in December 2010. But while pro- side, and the violent, obscurantist the uprising. (Wedeen’s 1999 book dungeon of ISIS and other militant testers in cities across Syria took Ambiguities of Domination, a study inspiration from their counterparts Islamist groups, on the other. Mu- of Syria under Hafiz al-Assad, is a nif provides a gripping and moving in Tunis and Cairo, their revolt met must read.) Among the highlights a very different fate: Unlike Ben Ali account of the Manbij experiment. in Authoritarian Apprehensions He also provides a forceful critique and Mubarak, Assad did not step are Wedeen’s nuanced reading of down in the face of popular mobili- of the distorted narratives about comedy in Syria and her discussion Syria prevalent in the West—includ- zation. Daher explains this variance of the ideological war of narra- by reference to the architecture of ing among segments of the Left tives. Her engagement with Syrian — in which Manbij and the larger power in Syria: a patrimonial state filmmakers — Ossama Moham- apparatus “in which the centers of democratic struggle it represented med’s agonizing Silvered Water, simply don’t figure. < power (politics, the military, and for example, and the work of the the economy) within the regime Syrian documentary collective [are] concentrated in one family Abounaddara — is arresting. These Danny Postel, a member of DSA’s and its clique” — one that “owns artists “perform an incandescent International Committee, is co- the state” and is protected by a otherwiseness to the bleakness of editor of The Syria Dilemma (2013) “praetorian guard (a force whose the present moment,” she writes. and Sectarianization: Mapping the allegiance goes to the rulers, not Authoritarian Apprehensions is the New Politics of the Middle East the state).” Daher shows how the most theoretically insightful book (2017). regime’s crony capitalism and on post–2011 Syria yet to appear.

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