by Who should lead DSA?
The National Political Committee (NPC) is DSA’s highest decision-making body between biennial conventions. 16 members of the NPC will be elected by the convention this week. Unfortunately, the election is not very competitive with only 20 candidates currently running.
Reform & Revolution recommends voting for the following comrades in this order:
- Laura Gabby (Bread & Roses)
- Sofia Guimarães Cutler (Bread & Roses)
- Gilman Bagga (Bread & Roses)
- Matt Miller (Independent)
- Justin Charles (Emerge)
- Gustavo Gordillo (Green New Deal slate)
- Sydney Ghazarian (Green New Deal slate)
- Ashik Siddique (Green New Deal slate)
Below, you’ll find how we (Reform & Revolution) assess other caucuses, which largely explains how we ranked the different comrades.
Some Background Information about the Different Caucuses
Ideological caucuses are networks or organizations of people within DSA that promote certain political ideas and strategies for DSA. Comrades in different cities and in different working groups etc. can connect in caucuses to make their politics heard and to fight for what they see as the best way forward for DSA.
Here are the most important ones (in our view, that’s why we start with ourselves 🙂 ):
- Reform & Revolution. That’s us! We are a Marxist caucus that wants to combine revolutionary socialist principles with the necessary flexibility to connect with mass movements of working-class and oppressed people. We want to fight for each and every improvement today, and link those struggles to build working-class power to end exploitation, oppression, and capitalism once and for all.
- Bread & Roses: The largest organized caucus within DSA. A Marxist caucus that argues for a “democratic road to socialism” along the lines of Ralph Miliband (in contrast to a revolutionary socialist understanding of the state, which Reform & Revolution is based on). They are some of the best builders of the organization who have played an important role in DSA fighting for class-centered politics, the rank-and-file strategy in the labor movement, a political strategy of mass struggle as opposed to prefigurative politics, and for going all in on the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign as part of a “Dirty Break” strategy toward the Democratic Party. They are running a three person slate for the NPC. They share our view on Resolution 14, the International Committee’s delegation trip to Venezuela, and the need for a principled internationalism from below as outlined in Resolution 17, instead of uncritically following the dominant left parties and leaders internationally (R14). However, we do have political disagreements with B&R. For example, we believe they are sometimes opportunistic (in the sense of politically adapting themselves to reformist working-class leaders, such as uncritically supporting Bernie Sanders or left union leaders vs critically supporting them on the basis of an independent Marxist position), and tend towards an approach that too simply gives economic answers to questions of intersecting oppressions.
- Tempest Collective is an online journal and collective of members both inside and outside of DSA. They are very focused on their generally good proposals to increase democracy within DSA. Standing in the revolutionary socialist tradition, they have also argued for a principled internationalist position as opposed to “campism” (in Tempest’s view and our view, a simplistic approach of uncritically supporting “anti-imperialist” governments or mass left parties). They aren’t running any candidates for the NPC. A prominent member of Tempest, Andy Sernatinger (@andsern), provides very useful reporting on DSA’s inside politics.
- Local communist formations include Emerge (NYC) and Red Star (San Francisco). Both are multi-tendency communist formations, with Red Star being more Maoist influenced. They have worked with CPN/Cardinal due to their agreement on the inadequacy of national working groups and general agreement on DSA’s international work as advocated in Resolution 14. Justin Charles from Emerge is running for NPC. Jenbo (Jennifer Bolen) ran 2 years ago for Red Star, but is now running for NPC as an independent.
- Socialist Majority Caucus (SMC) are running five candidates for the NPC. SMC has been a key force in the last NPC and in key DSA chapters like New York City, where they have helped to lead and build DSA over the past period. Many of the best organizers in DSA are members of SMC. Politically, however, we disagree with SMC due to their reformist and opportunist approach. Lacking a developed political ideology, SMC tends towards pragmatically accommodating to the most popular sentiments on the left.
- Green New Deal slate: They unfortunately supported Resolution 14. However, their statements about the need to build DSA as a “proto-party” are positive. We share their urgency to fight for eco-socialism and, within that, an orientation toward labor. We appreciate their bold vision for mass DSA campaigns that can have a major impact.
- Collective Power Network (CPN): While arguing for a working-class orientation and mass struggle strategy informed by Marxism, they tend towards a mistakenly depoliticized organizational focus. They recently suffered mass resignations and are diminished in their membership, and are not running anyone for the NPC. They have politics reminiscent of the late 1930’s CPUSA, with a focus on supporting union leaders relatively uncritically, following mass reformist and center left parties in Latin America uncritically, and a long-term commitment to running on the Democratic Party ballot line.
- DSA Renewal is a reconstitution of one part of the previous CPN leadership related to the Cardinal coalition. Their politics are along the lines of CPN. In this election they are highlighting their support for Resolution 14 and DSA’s recent international work rather than Resolution 17, which has a much more principled approach to resisting imperialism. We have published a short separate statement on the recent allegations against some of the comrades from Renewal running for the NPC.
- Libertarian Socialist Caucus: The LSC is a caucus of anarchists and libertarian socialists. They have a focus on horizontalism, autonomous tenant organizations, abolition (including within capitalism), mutual aid, and prefigurative politics — all of which we often politically disagree with. They have nobody running for NPC.
- Marxist Unity Slate: Made up in part by the publishers of the online journal Cosmonaut, they describe themselves as Neo-Kautskyists in the political tradition of the British Weekly Worker, whereas we in Reform & Revolution draw more from the Marxist ideas of Lenin, Trotsky, and Luxemburg. The Marxist Unity Slate has put forward a slate of resolutions as well as amendments to the national platform.
- Class Unity Caucus: An “anti-Identity Politics,” “class-first” caucus, they can rightly be called class reductionist in their outlook. They are putting forward good resolutions for Childcare for All, Amnesty for All, Spanish translation, and STV for Leadership Elections. We have substantive disagreements with their class reductionism. None of their members are running for NPC.
