by YDSA will hold its biannual convention from July 22 to 24. Reform & Revolution comrades in YDSA have put together this voting guide. You can find the resolutions put forward to the convention here.
If you’re interested in learning more about Reform and Revolution YDSA or joining our caucus, make sure to fill out our interest form!!
What is Reform and Revolution?
Reform and Revolution is a Marxist and revolutionary socialist caucus in DSA and YDSA. Our caucus stands for building DSA into a mass socialist party rooted in the struggles of the working class and the oppressed. Toward this end, we support political independence from the Democratic Party through the “dirty break” strategy, a militant rank-and-file labor strategy, solidarity with the international working class, and struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of bigotry and oppression.
A central question organizers grapple with is the relationship between fighting for reforms and the need to fundamentally change the whole system. Our name is taken in honor of the answer that Marxist Rosa Luxemburg gave to this question: “Between social reforms and revolution there exists for [the Marxist movement] an inseparable connection. The struggle for reforms is its means; the social revolution, its aim.” We believe that by throwing ourselves in support of the everyday struggles of working and oppressed people for reforms, we can build the organization, confidence, and consciousness of the working class toward revolutionary conclusions.
What are R&R’s priorities at the YDSA Convention?
R&R YDSA supports the development of a political, campaigning, and effective YDSA. Too often in our organization, the political questions which form the bedrock of our work can take the backseat to organizational questions. Our caucus hopes to stimulate political debate within YDSA to develop our analysis of our current situation, identifying political opportunities for socialists, and working out necessary strategy and tactics to have the maximum impact.
To this effect, R&R YDSA has proposed two resolutions at the convention. Resolution 14 calls on YDSA to wage a campaign for abortion rights, bodily autonomy, and trans liberation and to call a National Day of Action on these issues. Resolution 15 affirms YDSAs commitment to building an independent, workers party, outlines the basics of the “dirty break” strategy, and proposes concrete steps YDSA can take toward this end. In proposing these, we don’t simply wish to promote our ideas; we want to discuss seriously with comrades of all tendencies what implementing an ambitious program will look like in practice and convince the delegates to pass both resolutions.
Y/DSA should be a fighting organization, willing to engage in mass politics, and our national bodies should be willing to put forth political leadership.
Priorities:
R14 – For Abortion Rights, Bodily Autonomy, and Socialist Trans Liberation
– No to amendments, still vote YES on resolution if amendments pass
R15 – For an Independent Working Class Socialist Party
– No to amendments, still vote YES on resolution if amendments pass
Yes:
R1 – Resolution on Better Compiling Resolution
R2 – National Labor Strategy
R3 – Dues Sharing for YDSA Chapters
R4 – Resolution to Match Funds and Put YDSA on Leadership
– No to amendments, still vote YES on resolution if amendments pass
R5 – Resolution for Graduate Retention
R6 – Establishing a Council of HGOs to Advise YDSA Leaders
R8 – Anti-Fascism and YDSA
R11 – National Strategic Campaign Cohorts
R13 – Support for a Growing YDSA
– No to amendments, still vote YES on resolution if amendments pass
R17 – Strengthening and Improving Staff-Leadership Collaboration
– No to amendment, still vote YES on resolution if amendment passes
R18 – Recommitting to the Activist
A1 – A Voice for Disability
A2 – Amendment to Improve YDSA Democracy
No:
R7 – Developing Leaders in YDSA
– Yes to amendment, vote YES on resolution if amendment passes
R9 – Travel Equity in YDSA
R10 – Integrating YDSA into the International Committee
– Yes to amendment, vote YES on resolution if amendment passes
R12 – The National Organizing Committee
R16 – Fighting Bigotry and Inequality
A3 – Programmatic Unity in YDSA
– Yes to amendment, vote YES on resolution if amendment passes
R1 – Resolution on Better Compiling Resolution: Yes
This resolution provides a simple framework for increasing the transparency and accessibility of the resolutions and amendments to be debated at convention. As such, it strengthens YDSA’s democracy, and we support a yes vote
R2 – National Labor Strategy: Yes
As socialists, we need a strong labor priority to build a core of socialists in unions and rebuild labor militancy, which is essential for carrying out the rupture with capitalism that is necessary for a socialist future to be obtained. This resolution significantly improves upon labor resolutions proposed at past YDSA conventions. It lays out a rank and file strategy that includes industrialization (taking jobs in unionized or strategic industries) and also a strategy for campus labor organizing and tracking where young socialists will go after college. The resolution clearly positions YDSA against the conservative labor bureaucracy and has a strong plan of action, which may be challenging to implement fully. Regardless, it is one of the best resolutions proposed this year, and we strongly recommend a yes vote.
R3 – Dues Sharing for YDSA Chapters: Yes
YDSA chapters currently receive no direct funding from the national organization. This means that chapters have to rely on optional dues from students, or try to get funding from the school administration, which often requires following certain rules that could inhibit chapter activities. Furthermore, because most college students often do not have cash to spare, those who participate in the activities of YDSA chapters are less likely to pay dues than older DSA members, especially if there isn’t a clear benefit to becoming dues paying for those who primarily organize in YDSA. Creating a dues sharing infrastructure for YDSA chapters addresses these issues. While the funding stream is not large, it would provide at least a small base of funds for basic spending, and would create more motivation to pay dues. We support a yes vote.
R4 – Resolution to Match Funds and Put YDSA on Leadership: Yes
Attending the Winter Conference and Summer Convention is important for the political development of YDSA members and allows for a higher level of coordination and collaboration between chapters. Cost should not be a barrier to attendance, and DSA chapters can provide important support to YDSA in raising funds. By establishing a position in the leadership of DSA chapters for a YDSA representative, this resolution strengthens the bond between YDSA and DSA. YDSA members often contribute dues, labor, and capacity to their DSA chapters and should therefore have a democratic say in them. Vote yes!
R4-1: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
R4-2: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
Both amendments weaken the original resolution. The first weakens the asks made of chapters, while the second removes the voting power of YDSA representatives. We find these amendments unnecessary, and they inhibit the goal of the original resolution, empowering YDSA chapters and strengthening collaboration between YDSA and DSA. Vote no on these amendments.
R5 – Resolution for Graduate Retention: Yes
DSA’s membership decline is in large part rooted in a crisis of retention. This resolution takes positive steps towards coordinating a concrete membership retention process, and forges a deeper level of connection and coordination between YDSA and DSA. As such, we support it and encourage others to do the same. Vote yes!
R6 – Establishing a Council of HGOs to Advise YDSA Leaders: Yes
YDSA’s grievance procedures have long been in need of serious change, and in our perspective, this resolution takes steps to improve and strengthen our procedures. The resolution sets up a national body to support the training of grievance officers at individual YDSA chapters. We fully support this resolution! Vote yes!
R7 – Developing Leaders in YDSA: No
While we agree with the spirit of this resolution, to train and develop chapter leaders, we disagree with making the proposed training mandatory and necessary in order for chapters’ charters to remain unfrozen. YDSA should be providing exciting and engaging support for chapter leaders that chapter leaders will want to attend, not mandating attendance or making chapter status conditional on attendance. As such, we oppose this resolution.
R7-1: Yes (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment removes the section from the resolution that makes the status of chapters conditional on training attendance. This addresses our biggest concern with the amendment, and if the amendment passes we will vote yes on the resolution! Vote yes on this amendment!
R8 – Anti-Fascism and YDSA: Yes
We have concerns about the limited scope of this resolution, which fails to take steps towards the broad United Front of popular mobilization, labor, and left organizations which will be required to defeat fascism, and the independent socialist orientation to such a movement that is necessary. Despite these hesitations, we think this resolution provides necessary support for YDSA chapters facing security risks, and that with its passage, our organizers will be safer overall. Vote yes!
R9 – Travel Equity in YDSA: No
While we support the spirit of this resolution, and share the desire to coordinate a geographically diverse and dynamic socialist organization, we disagree that shifting the location of national conventions is the way to achieve this. While we share concerns about travel costs for delegates traveling from different regions, the higher venue and lodging costs associated with certain cities and our commitment to holding events in union venues restricts the options available. As costs for other aspects of convention rise, the amount and value of the travel scholarships that YDSA can offer to those traveling from other parts of the country decreases. As such, we do not feel that this resolution makes conventions more accessible. Vote no!
R10 – Integrating YDSA into the International Committee: No
Capitalism is a global system which has created an international working class with common interests. This means that the struggle for socialism is necessarily an international struggle which cannot be confined to the borders of any one country. R&R argues that DSA and YDSA should be internationalist – at the forefront of opposing US imperialism, building solidarity with the movements of working and oppressed people globally, and politically engaging in debates on the international left about how best to overthrow global capitalism.
We have serious disagreements with the International Committee’s current approach to internationalism. Our caucus starts from the position that the primary divide in global society is between capitalists and workers, and that our solidarity lies with the international working class against oppression, war, exploitation, and capitalism. By contrast, the IC often takes a campist approach, which views the primary divide as between rival geopolitical “camps” (US and Western imperialists and their Global South rivals) and flattens class distinctions within countries.
In practice, the IC’s approach has been to uncritically support the dominant forces on the left in other countries even when they act against socialist principles. For example, we disagree with the approach of the DSA delegation to Venezuela in 2021. We support DSA sending a delegation as a platform to speak out against US sanctions and to learn from left-wing Latin American parties. We do not agree with the political message of the DSA delegation upholding Maduro and the Venezuelan government as great examples of socialism, even as his government represses workers and left activists and restricts abortion and same-sex marriage. The same principle applies to the IC’s more recent support of social democratic forces in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. We support DSA delegations serving as election observers, which we find to be an excellent initiative, and statements supporting the election of Castillo, Boric, and Petro. We disagree with the uncritical, unqualified support we have voiced for these political projects, and believe a lack of critical analysis of them leaves us unprepared to evaluate their successes and failures. This is made even more relevant by Castillo’s abandonment of the leftist parties and Boric’s continued political unpopularity.
A clear Marxist approach is necessary for international liberation. There are no alternatives which can replace a determined focus on building revolutionary proletarian power.
We oppose US imperialism and we support cooperation with left forces internationally. We advocate a dynamic and flexible approach that allows us to connect to workers’ movements and left leaning governments around the world with the aim of building proletarian unity. The rigid, uncritical, campist approach of the current IC inhibits our ability to engage with the international left. For these reasons, we will vote NO.
R10-1: Yes (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment addresses many of our concerns with the original resolution by explicitly stating that the proposed IC Youth Committee should reject campist tendencies in favor of solidarity with the international working class. We will qualify our support of this amendment by clarifying that DSA should still seek to engage with mass left parties in Latin America and across the world, in addition to left opposition parties and labor unions, while maintaining a flexible and independent position. Still, we will vote YES on this amendment, and vote YES on the resolution if it passes!
R11 – National Strategic Campaign Cohorts: Yes
This resolution renews the cohort model for YDSA, and makes improvements on its past deployment, including increasing the level of political debate and discussion, facilitating coalition work with other organizations, and connecting the cohorts to organizing that is happening at the DSA level that YDSA members can plug in to. We support this resolution! Vote yes!
R12 – The National Organizing Committee: No
This resolution makes significant changes to the composition and structure of the NOC, which would reduce the ability of the national organization to take effective and politicized action, and would reduce the NOC’s level of democratic accountability to the elected leadership of YDSA. The resolution would also result in a significant expansion of the size of the NOC, which would make coordination more cumbersome. We oppose this resolution.
R13 – Support for a Growing YDSA: Yes
The strength of YDSA as an organization has been hampered significantly by the ongoing crisis of leadership capacity. It is almost impossible to be a full time student, full time worker, and NCC leader. We believe this proposal will help to mitigate the extreme burnout rate among YDSA leadership. Vote yes!
R13-1: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
R13-2: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
Both of these amendments would substantially weaken one of the core aspects of the proposal, stipends for NCC members. Serving in the elected leadership of YDSA requires a substantial time commitment which should be fairly compensated. Vote no on both of these amendments.
R14 – For Abortion Rights, Bodily Autonomy, and Socialist Trans Liberation: Yes
Summary: Socialists everywhere must fight back against the far-right attacks on abortion and trans rights. Further, we must offer the socialist movement as a viable, militant alternative in opposition to the failed tactics of the Democratic Party. Chapters across the country have risen to this challenge, YDSA should coordinate their efforts into a National Day of Action. Vote YES.
R&R YDSA put forward this resolution because YDSA and DSA need to provide leadership to meet this political moment. The Republican Party and the Supreme Court have launched an all-out attack on the health and bodily autonomy of working class people. This includes both the overturn of Roe v Wade and subsequent abortion bans to conservative attacks on trans people, through bans on gender affirming healthcare. Meanwhile, President Biden and the Democratic Party have failed to defend abortion, gender affirming healthcare, or even liberal democracy from these attacks.
This has created a unique political moment: large sections of the working class (women, LGBTQ people, students) are angry and mobilized to an extent not seen since the Trump administration, but under a Democratic presidency. This presents a challenge for socialists to present our movement as a militant alternative to the failed, capitalist-run Democratic Party. As the largest socialist organization in the US, DSA is the organization most fit to rise to the challenge.
Chapters across the country have already taken up this struggle, organizing protests, political education, mutual aid, and more for abortion rights. Meanwhile, membership has surged as over 1,000 new members joined DSA in the immediate aftermath of the overturning of Roe v Wade. YDSA should cohere this energy into a fighting campaign for abortion rights and trans liberation, which can articulate working class demands and present our organization as a political home for those failed by the Democrats. This would entail the NOC organizing a campaign cohort, developing a campaign toolkit for chapters, and calling for a National Day of Action for abortion rights in mid-October. Vote YES on this resolution!
R14-1: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment deletes large parts of this resolution, including our national demands, and removes much of the actionable content. It calls for the NOC to organize a single event on abortion rights and to “measure interest” in a campaign cohort and further action. We believe that the vote of the convention signifies a measure of chapter interest in a campaign and that a delegates’ choice to vote for this resolution should be consequential, and believe that this amendment significantly damages the integrity, strength, and impact of the campaign that we have laid out. We urge delegates to vote no on this amendment. Still, because the issue of abortion rights and trans liberation are too important to be ignored this convention, we willl still recommend a Yes vote on the main resolution in the event that this amendment passes.
R15 – For an Independent Working Class Socialist Party: Yes
Summary: DSA and YDSA must work toward the formation of a mass socialist party independent of the Democratic Party. This resolution reaffirms our commitment to the dirty break, and takes modest, concrete steps within YDSA toward that goal. Vote YES!
In the 2020 elections, President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party were elected to office with the support of millions of working-class people, in a clear rejection of the bigoted, discriminatory, anti-worker policies of Donald Trump and the GOP. While in office, however, the Democrats have failed to accomplish nearly all of their campaign promises: raising the minimum wage to $15, addressing climate change, canceling student debt, codifying abortion rights, and more. As we approach the 2022 Midterm elections, the far-right GOP is enjoying a resurgence while Democrats approach an electoral disaster of their own making. This is just the latest betrayal by the Democratic Party of its voters, following Barack Obama’s bailout of the big banks during his term and Bill Clinton’s vicious austerity and expansion of the police state during his.
R&R YDSA put forward this resolution because a party cannot represent both the interests of corporations and the interests of workers, as many Democrats claim they do. The Democratic Party is not fit to the task of preserving democracy, protecting the environment, or improving the lives of the working class, and socialists should not expend resources or capacity on trying to reform the party from within. Instead, it is the task of YDSA and DSA to work toward the formation of an independent, mass socialist party through the “dirty break” strategy. DSA candidates should be cadre members of our organization, openly socialist, and willing to agitate against the Democrats. Further, while it may be strategic and acceptable in many instances for socialists to run on the Democratic Party line, we should begin identifying races where socialists can win as independents, like Robin Wonsley-Worlobah on the Minneapolis City Council.
It is true that YDSA does not typically lead on electoral work, and often endorses candidates supported by our main DSA chapters. But we should be clear: YDSA members are full, dues-paying members of DSA and often devote our time and labor to the campaigns of DSA candidates. We are entirely within our rights to express this opinion and to endorse and promote the dirty break to our members. This resolution calls on YDSA to take modest, but concrete steps which can bridge the gap between our current organization and this ambitious goal. It calls on the NOC to measure interest for electoral campaign cohorts, develop a pamphlet on the dirty break, organize quarterly meetings to provide political education on the dirty break, and to propose this issue for discussion by DSA’s National Political Committee. Vote YES on this resolution!
R15-1: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment would preclude YDSA chapters that don’t reside within the jurisdiction of DSA chapters from endorsing candidates, which would significantly hamper the ability of YDSA chapters to participate in electoral campaigns. Vote no on this amendment.
R15-2: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
The chances of Bernie Sanders running for president again in 2024 are low, and as such, we do not support a significant allocation of resources to prepare for such an eventuality. Additionally, we do not think that a significant allocation of resources aimed at shaping the platform of such a campaign would have any substantial effect, as as such, we do not think such an allocation is a good idea. Vote no on this amendment.
R15-3: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment would remove several of the actionable items in the resolution, including both the pamphlet on the dirty break that the original resolution provides for and the quarterly, organization-wide meetings and discussions on the dirty break and the history of socialist electoral efforts in the US and around the world. As such, its passage would weaken the resolution. Vote no on this amendment.
R16 – Fighting Bigotry and Inequality: No
While we agree with the desire to make a YDSA more inclusive and more committed to struggles of liberation, we disagree with the mechanism by which this resolution aims to achieve this. The resolution does not lay out enough of a specific political framework for the aims, demands, goals, and orientation of what the organizing and campaigns around these issues would look like, and as such, we believe, is less effective than R14. Vote no on this resolution.
R17 – Strengthening and Improving Staff-Leadership Collaboration: Yes
This resolution makes changes to YDSA internship programs in order to increase coordination between interns and the NCC, and increases the level of democratic oversight over YDSA staff and interns. Vote yes!
R17-1: No (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)
This amendment puts in place a significant hurdle to the implementation of the original resolution, as it would require the NPC to approve the policy change before it was able to be put in place. We disagree that the NPC needs to have oversight over the NCC in this circumstance, and as such, we oppose this amendment.
R18 – Recommitting to the Activist: Yes
The Activist is a platform where the successes, setbacks, campaigns, proposals, and ideas of YDSA chapters and YDSA members around the country are put forward and discussed. Such a medium is crucial for the health and vibrancy of our democratic organization, and as such we are in full support of this resolution, which expands the capacity of the activist editorial board, and puts forward new and innovative ideas for magazine content. Vote yes!
A1 – A Voice for Disability: Yes
Although we have serious reservations about the use of election quotas as a mechanism to ensure diverse leadership, we are in support of this amendment. Ultimately, externally-facing, movement-building campaigns (like R14) where YDSA chapters engage in shared struggle with members of marginalized identities would have a much larger positive impact on the diversity of the organization as a whole, and the diversity of leadership, than the use of diversity quotas. We hope to see more proposals for these types of campaigns in the future. That being said, we feel as though it is not logical to oppose this quota while these campaigns are not yet in place, and while the current other diversity quotas are in place. These quotas are a temporary and flawed solution, but their presence is an improvement over their absence. Vote yes on this amendment!
A2 – Amendment to Improve YDSA Democracy: Yes
This amendment would merge the elections for the co-chair and at-large positions on the NCC, and as such, would make co-chair elections significantly more competitive. The amendment also sets Scottish STV as the method by which delegates to national conventions from each chapter are to be elected. These two changes strengthen the democracy of the organization. Vote yes on this amendment!
A3 – Programmatic Unity in YDSA: No
We appreciate the lengths to which this amendment goes to change the language around democratic-centralist organizations. However, we have serious concerns about the variety of ways in which “any organization that endeavors to undermine the efforts of DSA and YDSA to work towards the realization of its platform” could be interpreted, and are concerned about potentially sectarian and undemocratic applications of this language. As such, we oppose the unamended version of this amendment, but would support it if A3-1 passes (see below).
A3-1: Yes (vote Yes on the resolution if amendment passes)This amendment to the amendment addresses our main concern with the original amendment by removing the language that would allow for the expulsion of members for the reason discussed above. We support this amendment to the amendment, and should it pass, we support the passage of the original amendment.
