Daphna Thier of DSA's National Political Education Committee, and Austin Hayes from Olympia DSA, discuss the how and why of political education in the context of DSA's 2019 resolution to "build and implement a socialist education program." Several chapters of DSA already have robust political education programs of their own, for example Olympia DSA Night School.
Season 3 opens with an exercise in socialist imagination with organizers from the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. A few days after Biden’s inauguration, we held our own counter-inauguration laying out our alternative‘100 Days’ program. This is not purely a speculative exercise—the extent to which Biden’s presidency goes beyond a “return to normal” will depend crucially on the left’s ability to mobilize around some of the demands and aspirations you’ll hear in this episode. Part 1: DSA’s National Political Education Committee, the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC) and the Socialist Feminist working group. Political Education: https://education.dsausa.org Democratic Socialist Labor Commission: https://labor.dsausa.org Socialist Feminism Working Group: http://bit.ly/JoinDSASocFems Soc Fem Day School: https://bit.ly/DSASocFemDaySchool GND: Join the DSA Labor Commission & Green New Deal campaign in organizing to win the PRO Act (in the actual first 100 days)! http://bit.ly/dsaproact DSA’s ecosocialist Green New Deal principles: https://ecosocialists.dsausa.org/ YDSA: bit.ly/cancel-debt ! International Committee: https://international.dsausa.org/ Afrosocialists and Socialists of Color Caucus: https://www.dsausa.org/working-groups/afrosocialists-and-socialists-of-color-caucus/ ...
To help us make sense of Marx’s Capital, and therefore capitalism, Hadas Thier has just published the book ‘A people’s guide to capitalism: An introduction to Marxist economics.’ Its fresh, contemporary prose makes Marx’s concepts more accessible without sacrificing their depth. In this episode we discuss the continued relevance of the concept of ‘surplus value,’ which occupies much of the first volume of Capital. Hadas Thier is a member of the New York City branch of DSA. She writes for Jacobin, In these Times and other publications. Like many New Yorkers, she is also a mother struggling with issues of child care and schooling during the pandemic. ...
Robbie Nelson is a member of New York City DSA and a rank-and-file public school teacher. He has been organizing in the Democratic Socialists of America for more than 3 years and in the broader movement for almost a decade, largely focused on labor and political education. He is also a member of the Bread and Roses caucus within DSA. ...