Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Category: Activism (Page 5 of 30)

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.

Jacobin Study, Part 3: Left Populism

June 17, 2024 /

In two previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2), I detailed studies sponsored by Jacobin magazine on working-class politics and the left. Among other things, the studies concluded that voters prefer a ‘progressive populist’ (and later, ‘left populism’) message to a ‘woke progressive’ message. Readers can review the links above.

In my discussion of those studies, I pointed out that while the electorate – especially working-class voters – prefer left populism, they’re not yet on board with many left policy ideas. We have an electorate open to us. But we haven’t yet reached it. And so our task should involve building a majority. Not simply assuming our majority is already out there.

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A photo of four signs for the Johnson County Iowa Democratic primary.

How Mandi Remington Won

June 5, 2024 /

I have to start by saying I’m very pleasantly surprised by the results of the county supervisor primary in Johnson County. The winners, of course, were Rod Sullivan, Lisa Green-Douglass, and Mandi Remington (in that order).

The first two names should surprise no one. They’re incumbents. Incumbents can lose in Johnson County Democratic primaries, in the sense that it’s a theoretical possibility. But it happens about as often as Iowa football scores more than 60 points in a game.

Indeed, the last couple of decades solidified what had already appeared by the 1980s: the Democratic Party runs Johnson County, in effect, as a one-party state. Democrats hold every partisan office in the county. Republicans haven’t won a partisan local election in four decades. And that’s not going to change soon. Just as Democrats stand little chance of taking power statewide, the local GOP is doomed.

This creates curious effects in local politics, where Democratic voters combine anger toward state government with complacency toward local government. They might get worked up about city politics from time to time – a city pool here or a zoning issue there – but they merrily vote for the person with the “D” next to their name in county races and call it a day.

So, that’s JC politics in a nutshell. Democrats always win. And Democratic incumbents almost always win, usually easily.

But then there’s that third name: Mandi Remington. She soundly defeated the third incumbent, Royceann Porter.

Let’s talk about why.

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An artistic image depicting Soviet managerialism, with red and yellow rays and a man and woman staring at the screen.

Managerialism and Socialism

April 22, 2024 /

Ronald Purser’s recent article in Current Affairs, “Against Managerialism,” brought to mind for me a common motivation for socialism. It’s one we easily forget, even more so when we dive into the weeds of talking politics or running a socialist org.

I’m talking about economic democracy – the idea that regular, everyday workers are the most qualified to run their workplace. When I think about socialism – really reflect on it – I see economic democracy at the heart of it. And to create a real economic democracy requires us to rid the world – and ourselves – of managerialism.

Let’s say a bit more.

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A photo of a lone wolf howling. Intended to represent lone wolf activists

Why Lone Wolf Activism Fails

April 15, 2024 /

Here’s a common scenario for lone wolf activism. Imagine you’re attending a city council meeting. You probably don’t make it a habit to go to these things. Because, well, who really wants to do that? The meetings take too long. They’re uninteresting. And they cram the agenda full of inside baseball for local politicos.

As John Gaventa would put it (e.g., Power and Powerlessness), governments set up the agenda and the rules of the game to favor insiders. And to exclude people like you and I.

But there’s something you care about on the agenda this time. So, you show up and argue forcefully for your opinion on that issue. Maybe you get a little passionate. Maybe even indignant, landing a zinger at the expense of your opponents.

Or, like some people, maybe you attend every city council meeting and do this. Whichever.

The point is that, in the moment, it feels good. It feels satisfying. But then you watch the council vote the other way. They shoot down your side of the argument by a comfortable majority. You lose.

What happened here?

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Achieving Socialism vs. Being a Socialist

April 8, 2024 /

In her essay collection Dirtbag, Amber A’Lee Frost usefully distinguishes between achieving socialism and being a socialist. I find this quite useful. In fact, Frost helps me get at some of my own issues with frustration on activist movements.

As Frost puts it, she does activism because she wants “socialism, and socialism for me is simply a chore that needs to be done.” She wishes it were “already done.” As she puts it, the goal of activism “isn’t to ‘be a socialist’ (whatever that means). The goal is to change the world so that we can live under socialism.”

I have to admit the notion resonates with me. Lately, I feel more than a little discouraged about certain issues in the world, like the Israel-Gaza war. On those issues, I see little I could do to achieve positive results. But I can easily ‘be a socialist’ by demonstrating my disapproval of the Israeli invasion. It just takes a few social media posts.

And, furthermore, much of the activism I see on the issue achieves the latter more than the former.

That said, I don’t resonate fully with Frost’s line on this. In fact, I think we can find joy in the process of achieving socialism. It’s not just a chore. We can come together and create fun and culture as a supplement to our activism.

But it feels like a chore at times. And worrying too much about ‘being a socialist’ takes our eye off the prize.

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