Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Category: Activism (Page 10 of 29)

These are posts on activism from the blog Base and Superstructure. This takes many forms. The focus here is on political activism, above all on activist organizing and base-building. One concern is how to build effective movements. There’s also a need to create solidarity with fellow members and build coalitions with other groups. The main aim of good movements is to work together to advance material interests. This section also includes critiques of electoral work, and discussion of how and when to use elections to advance activist goals. Navigating the balance between grassroots work and electoral work is difficult for everyone.

bolshevik example

Don’t Follow the Bolshevik Example

February 13, 2023 /

As many readers are no doubt excited to learn, I continue making my way through the Russian Revolution unit in Mike Duncan’s podcast Revolutions. I’ve finally made it through his discussion of the Bolshevik victory in October 1917. Duncan lays out the main events in episodes 72-76.

But that’s not all he lays out in episodes 72-76. A number of leftists – usually sectarians, often ones very active on social media – look to the Bolsheviks as an example of a leftist success. Even some who don’t explicitly laud all their actions in those years still mine the writings of Lenin and/or Trotsky for good advice on strategy.

Let’s take a closer look.

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socialists and world war i

Socialists and World War I

February 6, 2023 /

I’ve written a few times about the work of podcaster Mike Duncan. He’s got a newer podcast called Revolutions, and I’ve been listening to the unit on the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

Duncan reviews an early 20th century divide in the socialist movement that should feel eerily familiar to most readers. Namely, the socialist parties of Europe backed World War I! In Britain, France, Germany, et al., the socialist parties set aside socialist internationalism, claimed that nation comes before class, and endorsed the war.

Why?

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broke white person

Revisiting the Broke White Person

February 2, 2023 /

Nearly a decade ago, the article ‘Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person’ appeared on Huffington Post. It dropped to much acclaim, especially among people dissatisfied by the classic Peggy McIntosh article ‘White Privilege and Male Privilege’.

The basic thought is simple enough: McIntosh comes up with lots of great examples of white privilege. But many of her examples speak more to class than race. Especially given her status as a professional at an elite private university (Wellesley) and the kinds of people she interacts with at that institution.

To the broke white person, such an article amounts to a farce. Who cares about finding a publisher (literally one of McIntosh’s examples) when you can’t even pay rent?

But let’s take a closer look.

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dsa shrinking

Why Is The DSA Shrinking?

January 23, 2023 /

The DSA skyrocketed in membership after the 2016 and 2020 Bernie Sanders campaigns. It went from a fairly obscure, irrelevant org of about 5,000 progressives and social democrats to 60,000 – and then later 95,000! – Berniecrats, social democrats, socialists, and other leftists by late 2020.

The org obviously likes to tout its growth when pitching to new members or talking to the press. But one thing it talks about far less: membership stalled at 95,000. And now it’s shrinking.

DSA isn’t shrinking as quickly as it grew. It still has around 85,000 members a couple of years after growth stalled and then declined. But, even though it doesn’t discuss the issue much in public, no doubt DSA leaders and staff are concerned about it.

Let’s talk about the big question, then: why?

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ultra-progressivism

Socialism Isn’t Ultra-Progressivism

January 9, 2023 /

Most politicians who win office and identify as socialists place their politics – and, by extension, socialism – under the umbrella of progressivism. So do some of the rank and file members of socialist orgs. But many others point out that progressivism and socialism grew out of much different traditions. We notably see this division in the DSA, which includes lots and lots of younger, newer leftists.

Even though many people see the division, few acknowledge it. This lack of acknowledgment allows an unhealthy situation to develop. We see far more acrimonious debate and ill-will due to this situation than an org like DSA can sustain. Were the two sides to make their assumptions explicit, they could engage more productively with each other.

But all this leads to a natural question: are the DSA politicians (and their followers) correct? Is socialism just some stronger flavor of progressivism? Or is it something else?

I’ll argue in this post that socialism and ultra-progressivism are different. Socialism isn’t just a more extreme form of progressive views. But while I’ll spend some time showing the differences between socialism and ultra-progressivism, I’ll point out that the goal is to help discussions proceed without all this ill-will.

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