Few people better understand the dynamics of crises in the U.S. political establishment than my guest for this second of two election special episodes. Cedric de Leon is director of the Labor Center at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. His long resume as a labor activist includes campaigns with the United Farm Workers in Connecticut and California, SEIU in Providence, and the American Federation of Teachers in Michigan. De Leon is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. His latest book Crisis: When political parties lose the consent to rule, compares the current dynamics within and between the two parties to those that led to the Civil War. De Leon defines a “crisis of hegemony” as a historical moment in which parties disintegrate into factions, and the people withdraw their consent to be governed by the political establishment. As socialists we need to pay close attention to the fractures within both parties over the next few years.
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