Welcome to the first reading list of 2024!
Let’s talk about what we’re reading to kick off the new year. Here are a few books from me. And, as always, let me know what you’re reading these days.
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I’ve written specifically about prison abolition on this blog. But I haven’t written about modern abolitionism as a movement. Nor have I specified whether I’m an abolitionist. In that previous post, I discussed how disagreements over the concept of ‘prison’ produces misunderstandings. It clouds political debates in ways we can, and should, get past.
Of course, I wrote that first post 4 years ago. These debates took quite a turn in the summer of 2020. A more comprehensive abolitionist movement emerged into the stage of mainstream politics.
How does abolitionism, in its modern form, relate to prison abolition?
I turned 40 last year, and I’ve reached a moment where I’m looking back at my activist history and thinking about my activist future. Among other things, that involves looking back at the frustrations of college town activism. And since I’ve spent the last 6 years as a member of Democratic Socialists of America, that means the frustrations of organizing with a socialist group in a progressive college town.
The landscape in our progressive college town features lots and lots of community activist groups. What frustrations could there be here? In a town full of progressive activist groups with goals broadly compatible to those of DSA, especially in the short term?
Oh, a few…
OK, so 2023 was a big year for the blog! Not only did I put in another year of blogging, but I also opened a new Medium page. You can check that out here.
But here’s a quick look at some of the things that happened on the blog this year.
Most Viewed Posts
I know it’s a regular theme, but once again, the most popular posts in 2023 were mostly written in 2019 or 2020. However, with that said, here are a few posts from 2023 that did especially well with readers:
1. Why Is The DSA Shrinking?
2. Socialism Isn’t Ultra-Progressivism
3. DSA Criticism of Anarchism
In short, the most popular posts this year have been about socialist organizing and theory! Readers turned to theory in these troubling times. This is a contrast to the usual split, where the most popular posts of past years were a mix of socialism, local activism, and international politics.
I should note that there’s a huge divide between number 1 and number 2 on that above list. ‘Why Is the DSA Shrinking?’ hit at something like the right time. Not only was it widely read and shared among DSA members before the 2023 Convention, but it is also cited in the Wikipedia article on DSA! That brought it to a much wider readership than my usually much smaller group of readers for most ordinary posts.
Preview for 2024
So, I no longer select an annual theme for the blog. But that doesn’t mean the posts aren’t thematic!
What’s coming up next year?
I have some ideas, but it’s mostly open ended at this point. I’ve hit most of the major themes I intended to cover in this blog. So most new posts will likely apply those fundamentals to new developments in our world and politics.
At the very least, it’s an election year in the U.S. I’ll surely have a few things to say about the lead up to that.
That means readers could be in for some surprises in 2024!
Happy (late) Saturnalia, readers!
As I often do this time of year, I’m taking a short break from blogging for the holiday season.
I’ll still have an end of year review post popping up in about 10 days. But aside from that, this will be my final post of 2023. I’ll be taking some time for family and travel over the next few weeks.
Expect a return to the regular posting schedule by the second week of January.
