Centering Political Education

Political education is more than just reading and discussing books by dead people. Political education is the critical self-examination of what we do as socialists that builds into an analysis of capitalism and how to fight capitalism. Political education cannot be isolated into small events or reading groups; instead, political education should be centered in everything we do. We each, as individuals, do not know enough; only through collectivising our knowledge and experience from both our lived experiences of capitalism and our struggle against capitalism can we arrive at effective analysis, strategy, and tactics.

A serious deficiency in the socialist movement is our inability to present comprehensive and practical socialist alternative institutions alongside our critique of capitalism. We cannot rely on anti-capitalism alone to convince the masses to join our movement; an inspiring, realizable vision of an alternative society must be constructed and conveyed in order to genuinely change the narrative. We must be able to address the notion that “socialism is good in theory but will always fail in practice” without merely resorting to tropes about how capitalism also fails in practice. Understanding and conveying a convincing socialist alternative is our greatest challenge, requires serious study, and is absolutely necessary for the success of the movement.

Centering political education in our chapter requires a shift in our internal culture, and we think there are some practical steps we can take to get there:

1. Prioritize facilitating local meetups throughout the Boston area. These meetups would consist of both social events (reviving the Socializing with Socialists series) and discussion groups, where members can talk about their lives, current events, and socialist theory in a low-stakes, friendly environment.
2. Expand the chapter-wide discussion series and the topics we cover in them to include regular reflections on actions the chapter has taken.
3. Share practical skills and knowledge members have gained from organizing, canvassing, or serving as an elected official with the rest of the chapter.
4. Raise awareness of the needs and barriers faced by the intersectionally marginalized within our ranks, so that interactions between members can be effective, comradely, liberating, and charitable.
5. Host bigger, more public events around the Boston metro area to expand discussion and debate across and beyond our membership, in collaboration with coalition partners and other socialist groups, as well as more “apolitical” neighborhood civic groups.
6. Reorient the Political Education working group into a more outward-facing, agitating voice for DSA — through a new blog, newsletters, film screenings, podcasts, day schools, art, zines, and more!
7. Recognize that those who are more inclined to study than to be out on the streets are valuable to the movement, encourage groups working on analyses of capitalism and socialist alternatives and utilize their work in all other aspects of organizing.

Any plan to improve political education in our chapter requires input and investment from our members. Unlearning the instincts formed growing up under capitalism and refining and changing our understandings of socialist practice is an ongoing process. We see a need to support all members in that process, and create an environment where all can participate in political discussion. We benefit as a group when our individual knowledge becomes collective, and that will only happen when we make sure that time and space for discussion and reflection are core parts of any actions we take and not an afterthought.

Read the rest of Boston Refoundation’s 2018 platform here.