The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has scored several electoral victories across the country in the past few months. In New York, DSA candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated long-term incumbent and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Adriano Espaillat, in the Democratic primaries last month. Her victory came as a part of the “historic victory” in New York: 8 out of 9 of DSA’s endorsed candidates defeated Democratic incumbents, months after the election of Zohran Mamdani as NYC’s mayor. In May, DSA member Chris Rabb was elected into the Pennsylvania House of Representative, defeating the “establishment” opponent. DSA member Melat Kiros is poised to enter the Colorado House, as another DSA member – Janeese Lewis George – secured a bid for the mayor of Washington, DC, the nation’s capital.
These recent electoral victories, alongside the earlier election of mayors Katie Wilson in Seattle and Zohran Mamdani in New York, respectively, had been claimed by democratic socialists as fruits of decades of political work supposedly in opposition to the Democratic “establishment” or “corporate interests”. Indeed, these victories are not individual occurrences but altogether represent an important shift in the Democratic Party, towards “left” corporatism i.e. social fascism.
Social fascism is the theory of the international revolutionary movement that social democracy (i.e. “democratic socialism”) is the moderate-wing of fascism because of their shared politics of class-collaborationism, suppression of class struggle, and charity/welfare in the place of revolution. The Democratic Party as a whole has been adopting more social-fascist policies and demands locally and nationally. On June 25, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), viewed by most as a “centrist” liberal Democrat, introduced the Living Wage for All Act, incorporating key democratic socialist verbiage and proposed to raise the minimum wage to $25. Clearly, while more “progressives” and democratic socialists are entering office on local, statewide, and national levels, more elected officials from the centrist or “mainstream” wings of the Party are gradually opening their eyes to the appeal of certain aspects of social-democratic policies as a way to co-opt the rising anger of the masses.
The “Democratic Socialist” Movement
The victories of social fascism in the elected offices are supported by an increasingly growing mass movement as its backbone. Ashik Siddique, a co-chairman of DSA, said the group surpassed 100,000 members earlier this year. The DSA today is no longer the geriatric insignificant organization it once was for the first decades of its existence. It has become the “default” organization of many activists on the “US left”, along with the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL), although the PSL’s endless cycle of scandals and splits has weakened it relative to the DSA. Already, the revisionist leaders of many now-dissolved or collapsed organizations have found DSA to be the new perfect vehicle through which their political platforms can take on greater mass significance.
For example, several Trostkyite remnants from various groups have now formed caucuses (Bread and Roses, Reform and Revolution) within DSA rather than re-organize their own independent sects. Several former opportunist leaders from the Maoist movement and the so-called base-building trend have found a political home within caucuses such as Marxist Unity Group and Christopher Winston’s Liberation Caucus. 17 out of 27 members of the DSA national political committee – an overwhelming majority – come from a caucus (faction) espousing a “communist” or “anti-imperialist” identity. Other “progressive” and social-fascist nationwide organizations, such as the Sunrise Movement, have also been key in mobilizing for the electoral efforts and acting as extraparliamentary pressure for the Democratic officials.
The growth of the democratic socialist mass movement, both in its “leftward” ideological direction and its mass appeal, is reflective of the sharpening of the general crisis of US imperialism. As the cost of living continues to increase and wages stagnate, more segments of the masses, in particular the lower petit-bourgeoisie, the labor aristocracy, and graduate/university students, are drawn to the social-fascist demands of the DSA – who has not only outlined a practical, actionable path towards reformist change but also has delivered more results electorally than say, the PSL or Socialist Alternative. Across the country, democratic socialists and progressives have dedicated a significant amount of time and resources to electoral efforts, going door to door to canvass for its endorsed candidates, obliging state union members under their control to canvass, etc. At the same time, American democratic socialism has demonstrated itself in action, garnering support (and in some cases passing) efforts to raise the minimum wage, increase public housing, and win economic demands in labor strikes and negotiations.
Revolutionaries-in-formation must always keep in mind that counter-revolution also does mass work and also intervenes in the struggle for daily demands. If we do not do our job well, if our movement does not struggle against opportunism and revisionism, if we do not win leadership over the masses with militant, class-conscious and independent struggle, then we cede leadership to social fascism, liberalism, and all other reactionary political trends. The forces of imperialism and the capitalist class have their own political organizations, like DSA, the Democratic and Republican Parties, and their own mass organizations, such as the state unions, the major religious institutions, and the big NGOs.
As expected, an important source of the democratic socialist movement came from right-wing of the mass student and social movements of the previous years. Darializa Avila Chevalier, for example, was active in Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a leading organization during the pro-Palestine encampment in Columbia University in 2023. She was also formerly a leader of BYP-100, an organization that gained prominence during the George Floyd Uprisings. Chevalier is not alone in her shiny credentials. Across the country, many pro-Palestine organizations and individuals, many of which have led militant actions, have “recanted” their amateurish adventurism and are now redirecting their energy towards the building of a legal democratic socialist mass movement. In Washington DC, for example, an entire movement championing the rights of its majority Black residents has dedicated itself towards statehood and the election of the democratic socialist mayoral candidate, as if racist police violence and national oppression don’t occur in states or aren’t a symptom of the imperialist system. Those with a petty-bourgeois class stand are prone to vacillations between adventurism and reformism, and this phenomenon is similarly facilitated by the increased crackdown on more radical causes and organizations by the Old State, as democratic socialism offers a harmless, safer alternative.
The Future of Democratic Socialism
The rise of US social-democracy serves to corporatize the State further and reinforce its confidence among the masses. For example, DSA has greatly encouraged the expansion of state unionism, in particular among graduate students and NGO employees. It enthusiastically supported the “stand up strike” of UAW in 2023, taking many measures to utilize its membership in support of the misnamed “strike” which had been a betrayal of the workers from the start to the end. In Washington DC and Boston, DSA chapters have been pushing for the building of housing cooperatives, providing a reformist example for the tenant struggle that is unattainable in the overwhelming majority of cases. In New York City, Mamdani gave out $50 FIFA World Cup tickets while breaking his promise to support the Chinatown domestic workers in their struggle to end 24 hour workdays. While the social-fascist mayor sent the police to repress anti-Zionist protesters, the DSA issued statements reaffirming its double-faced support for Palestine liberation and national liberation movements across the world. To an educated observer, this tactic of “reformism at home, supporting revolution abroad” had also been a favorite of the social-democratic governments of Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s, who have championed the causes of guerrilla movements in Central America, and later, facilitated their surrender.
In the final analysis, reformism betrays the working class precisely because it sacrifices the end of the movement – the revolutionary change of the entire society – with gradual, piecemeal gains, which end up pushing the final goal down the line to a distant future. In this process, the energy and class consciousness of the workers and oppressed people are dismantled piece by piece, as organized and militant struggles are replaced by bargaining, negotiations, and rule of law. From this movement, the capitalist class gains another important reserve among the masses to centralize power into the executive branch of the government and advance presidential absolutism, and to turn back those very same piecemeal gains years or decades later.
The democratic socialist movement is a new and growing branch of the capitalist class which is increasingly demonstrating itself for its vibrancy and potency in comparison to past social-fascist forces. Debate rages within the organization on a presumed AOC 2028 presidential run, when to endorse, and what role the DSA can play in carrying out the campaign. Already, certain caucuses of the DSA are envisioning the full transformation of the Democratic Party under the organization’s control. Such a Party will not look too different from the Democratic Party of today, even if the wallpaper and rhetoric changes. As the generalized crisis of US imperialism worsens, organized social fascism, that is, “democratic socialism”, will increasingly come to the forefront, as an important pillar of fascistization.
Revisionism and opportunism must be fought ideologically, politically and organizationally to unmask their attempt in trafficking in the mass anger and redirecting it in service of the capitalist system. It is in the concrete, harsh realities of class struggle that two lines begin to advance and delineate themselves. Who advances the interest of the working class, and who acts against it? Advancing the proletarian road and defeating the capitalist one is the burning question facing revolutionary organizations as they deepen their work among the class and its allies in the neighborhoods, in the shops, and in the schools.
