Democratic socialism | Dissent Magazine

Nicos Poulantzas: Philosopher of Democratic Socialism

David Sessions ▪ Beyond the Backlash

Poulantzas tried to envision how the left could simultaneously champion rank-and-file democracy at a distance from the state and push for radical transformation from within it.

What Milwaukee Can Teach the Democrats about Socialism

Peter Dreier ▪ May 8, 2019

The Democratic Party didn’t choose Milwaukee for its 2020 convention because of its radical past. But the city’s history shows how socialism worked in the United States—and could work again.

The Venezuelan Crisis

Jared Abbott ▪ May 1, 2019

Socialists need to fight against the dangerous and destabilizing actions of the Venezuelan opposition and the United States, while supporting the vast majority of the Venezuelan people in their struggle to regain democracy.

An Opposing Force

Nick Serpe ▪ Beyond the Backlash

The road from critique to power is long and difficult, but the effervescence of the left-wing political imagination indicates how seriously socialists take this challenge.

How Eugene Debs Became a Socialist

Michael Kazin ▪ Beyond the Backlash

Before Eugene Debs became the most popular socialist in American history, he was an innovative and courageous labor leader. As leader of the American Railway Union (ARU), founded in 1893, he attempted to gather all the crafts in what was …

Hot & Bothered Podcast: What the Climate Doomsayers Get Wrong

Daniel Aldana Cohen and Kate Aronoff ▪ October 23, 2018

Facing a deluge of doom-and-gloom reporting on the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Kate and Daniel get together to put things in perspective.

Booked: How to Pick an Electorate, with Carol Anderson

Marcia Chatelain ▪ October 23, 2018

Carol Anderson discusses the numerous strategies Republicans are using to keep voters of color away from the polls, and how progressives can overcome them heading into the midterms and beyond.

All Roads Lead To Wall Street

Owen Davis ▪ October 16, 2018

Calls for unions and activists to transform Wall Street from the inside have proliferated since 2008. But when progressives organize as shareholders, their good intentions inevitably run up against a fundamental obstacle: the bottom line.

Watch: The Future of the Left in the Americas

Editors ▪ October 10, 2018

Watch videos of all eight panels at our conference on the Future of the Left in the Americas, October 5–6 at the New School.

A Glimmer of Hope in Brazil

Bryan McCann ▪ September 14, 2018

Building on the legacy of the assassinated Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco, a new wave of local candidates is fighting to transform the country’s democracy.