2023 convention
Towards a Mass organization
“What DSA represents, if ever realized, can be enormously exciting and important in the country. The difficulty is of course jumping that gap between what we are and what we want to be.”
- Dorothy Ray Healey
DSA has the potential to be the expression, the organization, of a self conscious mass working class. As we move into YDSA convention season once again, we must reclarify the aims of the Democratic Socialist movement. Our task as socialists is to build a working class that thinks of itself as the makers of history. It is neither through small cadre sects, nor an NGO-style donor funded org that we can achieve this. We aren’t going to build the working class by spreading the Democratic Socialist brand like a blue check on Twitter or solely by building a student radical movement. Sadly, it’s much easier to say what we should not be rather than what we should be. In this document, we hope to articulate some YDSA priorities that we believe will support the development of a self conscious multi-racial working class in becoming a mass organization of the working class.
YDSA is uniquely situated in an era of discontent among students and youth through our capacity to unite different struggles under a guiding political project for a socialist future. We are already seeing the beginnings a socialist revival, but to not let this historical moment slip away we are in serious need of a well organized student branch that operates not as an independent body, but as an active part of a broader mass organization, DSA. To this end, Constellation prioritizes the development of national structures and organization that will create an integrated student wing of DSA, centralized and reliable member driven national infrastructure, and a nuanced understanding of class, race, gender, and all systems of exploitation and oppression. We must build an organization capable of winning power and building a better world.
Democracy & Efficiency
To build an effective, efficient and democratic YDSA we must integrate with our parent organization, DSA. All YDSA members are DSA members and our goals, strategies, campaigns and positions should be the same, even as our tactics may differ with the various conditions in which we organize. This would reduce the amount of required administrative work, increase institutional memory, and project a strong unified socialist message. At the national level, this means integrating YDSA’s national committees with DSA’s Committees, going beyond liaising with associated committees towards sharing membership and priorities. At the chapter level, YDSAs must expand our connection with DSA chapters consistently working to build YDSA members involvement with local DSA chapter meetings and campaigns. Building a mass working class organization is difficult enough; YDSA cannot duplicate and undermine DSA in addition to the groundbreaking task ahead of us.
To build an integrated socialist organization, Constellation is putting forward the following resolutions:
R10: Committing to Housing Organizing
R26: Recommitting to Youth Internationalism
Developing the Middle Layer
YDSA is stronger when the work of our local chapters and the national organization are integrated together. This integration can only be achieved through transparent structures, repeated frequent one-on-ones with chapter leaders, and a strong network of experienced YDSA leaders. It is cruel to expect our 9 NCC members to coordinate the work of over 150 chapters, 2,000 members, and all of our national committees. Constellation believes that instead we must create a middle layer of leadership who can facilitate organizing which both uplifts the work of local chapters while growing the capacity of YDSA National.
To build YDSA’s middle layer, Constellation is putting forward the following resolutions:
R3: Building YDSA for the Future: Establishing the YDSA Growth and Development Committee
R15. Semesterly “State of YDSA” Calls for Committee Check-in and Direction
R20. Recommitment to our Digital Platforms
Diversity
YDSA as an organization is overwhelmingly white and abled, and its leadership is often mostly cis male. This is apparent given the fact that for the last two years, we have barely met the POC quota for the NCC. This lack of diversity places an undue burden on members with marginalized identities as they are simultaneously tokenized and the only ones addressing the issues relating to their identities. Constellation believes that a prerequisite to a more diverse organization is recognition of our position in systems of oppression and embracing liberation for our most marginalized comrades not just in theory, but in practice. We also believe that we need substantial political development in socialist feminism and racial justice alongside our efforts to bring in comrades of marginalized backgrounds, so that actions and strategies advance the liberation of the most marginalized members of the working class.
To address this and encourage a more diverse membership, Constellation is putting forward the following resolutions:
R3: Building YDSA for the Future: Establishing the YDSA Growth and Development Committee
R4: Reestablishing the Youth Political Education Committee (yPEC)
R14: Establishing a Chapter Grant System