Join Charleston DSA as we trace the Roots of the Socialist Program.

Interested in classic Marxist texts and how we can apply them to our current conditions? This study group is for you!

We’ll begin with the intellectual roots of socialist programs, moving from Marx and the development of socialist political programs toward the contemporary demands and strategy outlined in DSA’s Workers Deserve More. Along the way, we’ll explore questions of capitalism, the working class, labor, social reproduction, imperialism, democracy, and socialist strategy.

Some of the readings may be challenging, but you don't need to be an expert in Marxism to participate! Bobby and Bennett will help guide the discussion, explain difficult concepts, and connect the readings to contemporary socialist organizing.

Week 1

For our first meeting, we’ll be looking at the history and purpose of socialist political programs.

Please Read (or skim) the following 

1. “Programme: Lessons of Erfurt” ( ~20-30 min)
   A discussion of the lessons socialist organizers can draw from the development of the Erfurt Program.
   Read “Programme: Lessons of Erfurt”
   
2. “The Erfurt Program” (German SPD, 1891) ( ~20 min)
   One of the most influential examples of a socialist political program, developed by the German Social Democratic Party.
   Read “The Erfurt Program”
3. “Workers Deserve More: The DSA Program” ( ~10 min)
   DSA's current national program, which lays out a vision for thriving working-class communities, a working-class foreign policy, and working-class democracy.
   Read “Workers Deserve More”

We'll use these readings as a starting point for thinking about what makes a socialist program different from a list of policy demands and what it means to develop a program capable of building working-class power.