WTF is Socialism Anyway???: The Campus as a Battleground of Class Struggle This workshop will be geared toward younger forum attendees, particularly college students, and will be roughly divided into two portions. The first portion will be a brief summary and history of socialist thought as well as the socialist movement internationally and in the United States. This will help to clarify what the term "socialism" actually means, as opposed to the perversions of the word used in the main stream media. Also, this will demonstrate the socialist movement’s long, proud history with its many achievements that have been taken for granted, such as the end of child labor and the 40-hour work week. The second portion will describe the Democratic Socialists of America as an organization, and more importantly Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) as its youth section. Presenters will describe the types of activism and organizing the YDS chapters engage in on campus, and the importance of campus activism overall. Students who attend this workshop should leave with a good, basic understanding of socialism in theory and practice, and feel motivated to start organizing on their own campus.
WTF es Igual al Socialismo? El Campus como Campo de Batalla en la Lucha de Clases This workshop will be geared toward younger forum attendees, particularly college students, and will be roughly divided into two portions. The first portion will be a brief summary and history of socialist thought as well as the socialist movement internationally and in the United States. This will help to clarify what the term "socialism" actually means, as opposed to the perversions of the word used in the main stream media. Also, this will demonstrate the socialist movement’s long, proud history with its many achievements that have been taken for granted, such as the end of child labor and the 40-hour work week. The second portion will describe the Democratic Socialists of America as an organization, and more importantly Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) as its youth section. Presenters will describe the types of activism and organizing the YDS chapters engage in on campus, and the importance of campus activism overall. Students who attend this workshop should leave with a good, basic understanding of socialism in theory and practice, and feel motivated to start organizing on their own campus.
We are a diverse collective, informed and inspired by a variety of movements and figures in the long struggle for social justice. From the American labor movement to the fight for civil rights, from European Social Democracy to women's liberation, the Young Democratic Socialists takes lessons and hope from the wide history of our progressive project. But YDS is not a theoretical debating society. We are proud of our heritage as socialists, but don't get bogged down in endless arguments about how many Karl Marx books can fit on the head of a pin. We are the nation's largest socialist student and youth organization, but unlike many socialist groups, we don't think we are the end-all-be-all of progressive politics in America. We work in coalitions, as a principled ally of a variety of struggles. We work to be a socialist voice within the left, but don't think that we should tell other movements that we have all the answers. We want to see a progressive, democratic majority in the US, and work in good faith to build that majority. Progressive Democrats, queer activists, people of color, Greens, labor activists, feminists, we have come together because we don't think there is currently room in US politics for our vision of a society based on solidarity, instead of greed. We are going to make that room.
Contact Information
Website:
http://www.ydsusa.org
75 Maiden Lane
New York ,
NY ,
10038 United States