Leftists spend a lot of time talking about building an organization. More recently, we see this with discussion around the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). But, in fact, it’s an ancient set of debates. From the struggles of Marx and Bakunin around the First International to division and upheaval in the Socialist Party of America in the 1920s and 1960s, we love arguing about what the “party” should look like.
I’m not sure how much new I have to say about an old debate like this one. But I did recently read an article in Current Affairs by Matt Hartman on his experience as a DSA chair in North Carolina. I thought that article raised some issues worth thinking about.
Socialist Background and DSA Chapters
Hartman points out that everyone in the DSA seems to have a plan to change it. They all want to set out a vision for what kind of organization it should become. He’s right about that. I’ve profiled the DSA caucuses in the past, where we see it most clearly. But all this shifts quickly. I think my old post remains mostly up to date, but some things surely changed.
This sometimes looks different at the local chapter level. Hartman finds it depends a lot on the state of local activism prior to chapter formation. Again, I think he’s right. Good DSA chapters build from local members with relevant organizing experience. So long as it doesn’t degenerate into local squabbles or dependence on single leaders, it can go really well.
Without that background, chapters flounder. They turn into membership lists without much going on. And unfortunately, the DSA’s structure often encourages that sort of thing. It puts its focus on gaining members over and above incorporating them into actions. The National organization knows this and it takes steps to counter it. But the problem stubbornly remains.
Leftist Social Networks
Hartman makes one final insightful point about the DSA’s members. It attracts people who lack built-in leftist social networks. They create these networks through the DSA. Consequently, successful chapter events tend to be the ones based in social activities – game nights, happy hour, et al.
We’ve certainly learned that in the Iowa City chapter. Before the Pandemic, we had great happy hours after chapter meetings. And during the Pandemic, we’ve had successful movie nights with online discussion on our Discord channel.
What Is To Be Done (With the DSA)?
And then there’s the inevitable question: what should the DSA look like? Where should we go from here?
I’ve written about these questions on the blog and thought about them far more. At a big picture level, the DSA should be a mass organization that’s not a political party, but rather focuses on political education and organizing on local issues (especially labor and tenant issues, as well as issues of race).
But that’s…a bit programmatic. Let’s talk details.
The DSA already set itself up very well for the former part. It was never a political party. At the same time, it clearly attracts people interested in political education and organizing of some kind.
DSA focuses its national campaigns a bit too closely on electoral-type issues for my own tastes (e.g., Medicare for All, PRO Act). Hartman himself notably seems to see this as a feature rather than a bug, as he left the DSA for groups more focused on electoral politics.
For my part, if I were to identify one thing the DSA needs to work on, it’s how to transition from building social networks and grassroots organizing (as two mostly separate things) to building a much more integrated system that involves social networks and grassroots organizing together.
Political Education
It’s a tough transition to make. To do it, we might ask what’s missing from our current electoral focus. And primary among that is a way to hold elected DSA officials accountable to a deeper purpose and longer-term vision for socialism. We’ve seen that issue arise, for example, in discussions of AOC’s politics.
To do that, the DSA must again go back to the question of integrating social networking with political education. I try to do that in some of my work. This blog, for example. In addition, I could point to my book on foreign policy. But there’s plenty more to do in this space.
