The monthly Washington Socialist informs readers about perennial and evolving aspects of democratic socialism. Each issue includes essays, briefs, and articles covering topics oriented to specific local campaigns and broader socialist analysis. Each issue of the Washington Socialist is a produced by members of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, although contributors from the DMV's political left should always feel welcome to contribute!
The new website is designed to be a permanent home for our 10+ years of issues. The new design is built to be easily editable and malleable, allowing Washington Socialist and its handlers better control over the presentation and organization of our content.
Sign up for the Metro DC DSA's weekly newsletter to be notified of new content published by The Socialist. The weekly also sends out additional notices about DMV news and action notices.
An important qualifier - opinions or views expressed here DO NOT necessarily reflect the positions held by Metro DC DSA, or national DSA.
The Socialist looks to publish a wide array of content that supports our core objectives:
The Socialist acts on the long-standing tradition of socialist organizations in maintaining a print and cultural arm. Broadly, we hope this publication can act as a public forum for the DC left. So long as there is a socialist breathing in the DMV, the Washington Socialist will trod on.
The best way to learn the types of articles we publish is to read past issues. We are interested in a wide range of articles and other submissions, including but not limited to:
We prefer not to publish articles that include arcane jargon or are written in academese because; we are not a scholarly publication. Footnotes should be avoided; we prefer references to be made in the text or by using embedded links. On the other hand, our readers are generally well-educated and well-versed in contemporary politics and political theory, so one need not write down to the level of, say, the Washington Post. Publications such as In These Times or The Nation also use the type of writing style that works well in the Socialist. We also recommend the advice offered by Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style.
All submissions should have some connection to DSA or socialism, be viewed with a socialist lens or be relevant to the progressive causes and movements that DSA supports. One does not have to be a member of the DSA to publish here - in fact, we invite individuals of all (left-aligned) organizations to feel welcome contributing articles and essays here.
Articles should be succinct and no longer than necessary. We generally prefer articles of no more than 3,000 words, although exceptions are made if warranted.
They do not, although articles must be internally consistent in their usage (i.e., if you abbreviate our country as the U.S., do not suddenly refer to it as the US). We have an internal style guide that we will ensure your piece conforms to.
We prefer articles to be submitted via a Google Doc.
Not at this time.
Articles may be submitted to The Socialist, with “WS submission” in the subject line, to washingtonsocialist@mdcdsa.org. We ask that you please include the following:
The Socialist publishes monthly, generally on the first weekend of the month; the initial deadline is usually about a week to ten days before the publication date. The editorial team will send a notice of the specific deadline to regular contributors earlier in the month. But we do make accommodations for special entries or time-sensitive content.
The Socialist publishes monthly, generally on the first of the month (except for a midsummer July/August issue); the deadline is usually about a week before the publication date. The editor will send a notice of the specific deadline to regular contributors earlier in the month.
We prefer articles from DSA members, but non-members may submit articles so long as they address concerns of interest to our members.
No, pieces are accepted based on their own merits. We are editorially independent and reserve the right to reject any submissions sent to us, even from long-term DSA members.
Feel free to send over questions to washingtonsocialist@mdcdsa.org. We don't bite!