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MASS SOCIALIST POLITICS VS. VANGUARD PARTY  
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Max Böhnel
August 12, 2025
nd - journalismus von links
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_ DSA's 2025 convention was, in many ways, a snapshot of the American
socialist movement itself: energized, diverse, and ambitious — but
also fragmented, insular, and unsure of how to seize the political
moment staring it in the face. _

, Photo: afp/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

 

The big moment came on Sunday afternoon. Delegates to the _Democratic
Socialists of America_’s biennial convention had been waiting all
weekend for the announcement: Who would be elected to the
organization’s 23-member National Political Committee (NPC)?

One by one, names and portrait photos of the winners flashed across
two giant screens in the cavernous Chicago Convention Center. Cheers
erupted in pockets around the hall — here, then there — as more
than 1,200 delegates celebrated victories for their respective
factions. The seating arrangements themselves told the story:
Delegates had clustered by political affiliation, so the joy was as
geographically concentrated as the disappointment. Just before, they
had all stood together, fists raised, to sing _The Internationale_.

When the last name was read, applause rippled across the room. Then
phones came out. Delegates began tallying up the results: Reformers
versus revolutionaries, sectarians versus pragmatists, advocates of
broad-based socialist organizing versus believers in a tightly
disciplined workers’ party. The day before, delegates had re-elected
Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique as co-chairs.

A MOVEMENT STUCK IN PLACE
The new NPC lineup suggested a rough stalemate between the two
dominant blocs, with no clear power center emerging. Compared with the
2023 convention, not much had shifted. At the national level, DSA —
the largest left-wing membership organization in the country — still
seems unlikely to wield significant political clout. In certain cities
and regions, however, the organization remains a meaningful force.

Siddique, a member of the _Groundwork_ caucus, which champions mass
politics, was quick to argue that the election results didn’t match
the mood inside the organization. “The composition of the new NPC
doesn’t reflect the balance of forces in DSA,” he told reporters,
noting that the candidate slate had been finalized before Zohran
Mamdani’s headline-grabbing victory in the New York mayoral primary.
The excitement around Mamdani’s win, Siddique said, had not been
translated into representation at the top.

BIG TENT, BIG PROBLEMS
The factionalism was hard to miss — even for international guests.
Pelle Dragsted, leader of Denmark’s Red-Green Alliance
(_Enhedslisten_), had come to Chicago to observe what he called “the
other America.” He was inspired by the sight of so many young
socialists in one place, and stressed that the U.S. left “has an
enormous responsibility” to build an alternative to Trumpism,
something he believes the Democratic Party establishment is incapable
of doing. Still, he admitted, DSA’s “very big tent”_ _comes
with_ _internal divisions that are "perhaps a little concerning." The
movement, he argued, needed a unifying purpose.

Those divisions were on full display outside the plenary hall, where
factional activists handed out flyers, pamphlets, and stickers to push
their preferred resolutions and NPC candidates. In the evenings,
separate parties were held in different neighborhoods. A
pre-convention tally had identified more than 20 caucuses represented
among the delegates; only about 20 percent of delegates were
unaffiliated.

TRUMP? NOT THE MAIN TOPIC
On day one, a majority rejected a motion from the “moderates” to
prioritize debate on anti-Trump strategy. Instead, the convention
focused largely on internal organizational questions. Nearly every
caucus supports, in principle, the creation of a U.S. socialist party.
Yet there was little appetite for discussing why past third-party
experiments — from the Green Party to smaller socialist formations
— had failed.

Delegates did spend several hours debating anti-Zionism, eventually
passing a resolution calling for the expulsion of members who make
“pro-Zionist” statements or engage in “pro-Zionist” activity.

For some, this was a missed opportunity. Paul Garver, a veteran member
of DSA’s International Committee, agreed that factionalism and the
absence of a coherent strategy to confront Trumpism were the
convention’s defining features. Still, he pointed to bright spots:
DSA chapters across the country are mobilizing in defense of immigrant
rights and against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He cited
a boycott campaign against the low-cost airline Avelo, which had
signed a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to
transport detained migrants to facilities inside and outside the U.S.
In July, Avelo announced it would close its base for “financial
reasons” — a decision organizers took as an early victory.

A WARNING FROM WITHIN
One longtime DSA member, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned
that nearly all caucuses share an “idealism-based” assumption that
“DSA should be the core of a third party.” Without a coherent,
organized push for socialist mass politics, they cautioned, the
organization risks devolving into “a swamp of competing sects” —
with or without Zohran Mamdani’s leadership.

The 2025 convention was, in many ways, a snapshot of the American
socialist movement itself: energized, diverse, and ambitious — but
also fragmented, insular, and unsure of how to seize the political
moment staring it in the face.

Max Bohnel is a U.S. based freelance journalist working for
German-speaking media, among them nd - journalismus von links
(independent socialist daily newspaper, formerly Neues Deutschland) 

* Democratic Socialists of America
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* socialist movement
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