The DSA

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The once marginal Democratic Socialists of America have recently become one of the most essential hubs for anti-capitalist politics in the country. This collection of stories contains debates, ideas, and analysis of the DSA at both the local and national level.
Alex Mell-Taylor
March 2023
A discussion with DSA member and Stomp Out Slumlords tenant organizer Katlyn Cotton on the socialist vision of housing.
Woody Woodruff
January 2023
That year went faster than expected. ICYMI - here's where you can catch up on the status of the labor movement, local and national.
MDC DSA Steering Committee
January 2023
Annual report provided to document activities of the Metro DC DSA in 2022.
Editorial Crew
October 2022
A regional organizing retreat in early September that brought comrades from as far away as New Jersey and Charlottesville to discuss organizational tactics and strategy.
Ben D
Summer 2022
An analysis of the District 2022 primary elections suggest DC is depolarizing around race and repolaring around class.
Dieter L-M
Summer 2022
How the Metro DC DSA is working to actualize the Membership Engagement Committee.
Dieter L-M
June 2022
By laying a foundation of civic and political education in local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the DSA can equip and prepare socialists to vie for power in the District.
Jimmy Higgins
May 2022
At the North America's Building Trades Union's conference, the promise and limitations of organized labor's current resurgence were on full display.
Kurt Stand
April 2022
A look back at the late 1940s and its lost opportunities ought to give socialists pause as we consider the left's situation today.
Metro DC DSA's Defund MPD working group
April 2022
The District has made strides to replace police with non-law enforcement public servants and non-carceral programming. Our message to DC Council is simple: keep going.
Bill Mosley
April 2022
The world must demand of Russia: Stop the bombing and pull out the troops. Then we’ll talk.
Alex Mell-Taylor
March 2022
The history of this old socialist stronghold contains lessons for those building and sustaining working-class power today.
Woody Woodruff
February 2022
Though statewide organizing is still in its infancy, Maryland’s DSA formations have been conferring regularly about how to leverage our numbers and apply our analysis to the so-called Blue state’s political realities.
Mauro Gonzalez
February 2022
Putting theory to work through student organizing in Watkins Mill High School.
Max B. Sawicky
February 2022
When it comes to the great and near-great powers, there are no good guys.
MDC DSA Steering Committee
January 2022
The 2021 Steering Committee's annual report.
Max B. Sawicky
January 2022
The controversy stirred up by Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s vote to fund Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system and his meeting with the repulsive Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett raises questions about the posture of the US Left towards Palestinian liberation, Zionism and anti-Semitism.
Stuart K
December 2021
How should the local DSA approach electoral politics?
Editorial Crew
December 2021
On election night 2021, nationally endorsed DSA candidates won over 25 local victories at the hyperlocal level.
Amanda Liaw
October 2021
Reflections on Hägglund's articulation of what it means to be human and what we value as a product of socialization
Kaiser F.
September 2021
What went down at the DSA 2021 National Convention.
Bill Mosley
September 2021
A two-decade recounting of local perspectives on the labor movement.
A Discrete Socialist
August 2021
Record of what went down at the 2021 YDSA convention.
Woody Woodruff
August 2021
National DSA has kicked off the next phase of its Green New Deal campaign, encompassing labor and the PRO Act but moving into the highly unionized public school system.
Patrick Dalton
July 2021
Socialists of all stripes should reckon that we may need to rebuild at the local level the very thing we’ve been fighting for years.
Metro DC DSA Vets
June 2021
Five socialist vets provide their thoughts on capitalism, socialism, imperialism, and the military.
Lauren Katz and Ryan Mosgrove
May 2021
One approach for mobilizing the working masses into socialist political operations.
Larry M.
April 2021
Democratic socialists should think about how we can leverage the structures and systems of the DSA to build capacity for deliberate, strategic disruption.
David Schwartzman
March 2021
Should the DSA carry-forward its electoral strategy through the Democratic Party? An ecosocialist response.
Alex McDowell
March 2021
The growing threat of fascism will require deeper attention paid to administrative security.
Patrick Dalton
March 2021
Recent critiques levied at DSA peddle in an aesthetic-radicalism that risks distracting the working-class from organizing itself into a disciplined political force.
Gary zZz
March 2021
An annotated discussion on capitalism and virtual realities with the creators of Preserving Worlds.
Brad C.
March 2021
The socialist electoral project is the most successful it has been because socialists are contesting power using the Democratic ballot line. Eschew symbolism, prioritize victory.
Kurt Stand
February 2021
Organizers in PG County have finally come together to help build socialism in Maryland.
Gary zZz
February 2021
A decade of neoliberal retrenchment is finally starting to crack. Can DC's left recognize the moment?
Bill Mosley
January 2021
This article from February 1992 set out the state of play for the single-payer movement at the time. As in 2020, a recession was making millions of Americans anxious about their own access to health care.
Kareem Elrefai
January 2021
Historical precedent shows that Democrats win when they embrace the grassroots demands of their party. If Democrats want to build a winning coalition, they will need to recruit the left to watch their back.
MDC DSA Steering Committee
January 2021
Update delivered to the chapter at the 2020 MDC DSA chapter convention
MDC's Internationalism WG
December 2020
For those looking to combat imperialism, dismantle the US war machine, stand in solidarity with comrades across borders — this piece will provide some context and guidance on where to start.
Bill Mosley
October 2020
Introduction
John G.
May 2020
How do we value the lessons learned from DSA's involvement in the Bernie Sanders campaign?
Bill Mosley
April 2020
The history of DSA's electoral and political strategy.
Bill Mosley
October 2019
Reflections on democratic socialism from 1984.
Kaiser F.
September 2019
Throughout the 2019 Convention, there were many chances outside of debating resolutions and bylaws to connect with comrades across the organization, at hosted events and informal meetups.
Elizabeth Stafford
December 2018
Where do Northern VA socialists go in 2019?
Steven Ramirez
November 2018
While the DSOC of my youth had a strong presence of 20 to 30-year olds, there was also a noticeable contingent of members in their 40s and 50s. Successful organizing will find a way to incorporate older members into the fight for socialism.
Caroline Debnam
November 2018
Democratic socialism must create ample space for a robust peace movement in material policy platforms. Authoritarianism, war, climate change and imperialism must be confronted with conviction.
A Discrete Socialist
May 2018
DSA members, including some from the MDC DSA local chapter, plan to launch a new caucus in national DSA.
David Duhalde
December 2017
Representing DSA on the international circuit.
Kurt Stand
September 2017
Working through DSA's inevitable growing pains will require balancing the optimism of a mass movement with the realism of achieving "the left-wing of the possible."
Sean Monahan
August 2017
Sean Monahan, current and retiring NPC member from Providence, R.I, , has some thoughts about what NPC members face, and what candidates and delegates need to think about.
Editorial Crew
July 2017
How could we build a caring, mutually supportive socialist society if we cannot build that environment within our own movement?
Enrique Calvo
June 2017
DSA should reject calls to leave the Socialist International.
Woody Woodruff
May 2017
Instead of consciously projecting socialism to a tier of potential activists, socialists should learn to communicate their philosophy in transactional terms.
Evan Ottenfeld
March 2017
A DSA event sparks a lively discussion on UBI, wealth taxation, and capital redistribution.
Kurt Stand
January 2017
Metro DC DSA's monthly Socialist Salon has sought to strike that middle ground by providing a pathway between gut responses and theoretical constructs.