Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
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The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC, ) was a
political organization A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in polit ...
founded by Michael Harrington that advocated
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
in the
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. DSOC was formed in 1973 when Harrington led a minority caucus away from the Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA), which had recently gone through two name changes from
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...
(SPA) to Socialist Party Democratic Socialist Federation (SPDSF). Harrington's disagreements with SDUSA leadership came to a head during the 1972 presidential campaign of Democratic Party candidate
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
. Harrington was stunned that his socialist colleagues chose either to not endorse McGovern, or to only give him lukewarm support when, in Harrington's view, the
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
was clearly a better candidate than the incumbent
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
. The emerging post-1960s democratic left coalition, as Harrington envisioned it in his DSOC founding essay in March 1973, went beyond the traditional socialist emphasis on organizing labor unions to build political power. He also wanted to mobilize left-liberal Democrats; civil rights, feminist, and anti-war activists; and a robust youth section from college campuses. DSOC's ranks grew during the 1970s, eventually claiming a national membership of nearly 5,000. In 1978, DSOC was admitted as a full member of the
Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...
. In 1982, DSOC ceased to exist when it merged with the New American Movement to form the Democratic Socialists of America.


History


Background

After nearly a decade of internal acrimony, the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...
(SPA) was headed for a split as the decade of the 1970s opened. In March 1972, SPA had merged with the Democratic Socialist Federation (DSF) to form the SPDSF, This essay on Harrington first appeared in the ''SoHo Weekly News'', vol. 3, no. 6, Nov. 13, 1975. but its members were divided over two key issues: # Should democratic socialists call for an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Vietnam, or should it push for a negotiated peace settlement and a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam? # Should the democratic left continue its bedrock principle of organizing the
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
via
labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
, or should it concentrate more on recruiting (predominantly middle class) political activists? The factional fights within SPA and its youth branch, the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL), were centered on these questions of how and when to end the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, what sort of relationship to maintain with the Democratic Party, and how to expand the democratic socialist movement. As the national SPDSF convention approached in December 1972, Michael Harrington was the leader of a faction known as the Coalition Caucus. He had complained that the SPDSF's endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern "was not strong enough, coupled as it was with what other party leaders called 'constructive criticism,' and that members were not sufficiently active in the campaign." The majority caucus's Arch Puddington replied that the California branch was in fact very active in supporting McGovern, while the New York branch members had been mainly focused on a congressional race. Despite his doctrinal differences with the YPSL, Harrington had a loyal following in the group, which was also holding its biennial convention in December. As an omen of the coming split in the SPDSF, Harrington resigned his post as Honorary Chairperson in October 1972.


SPDSF convention in 1972

The SPDSF national convention began in late December 1972 in New York City. The two co-chairmen, Bayard Rustin of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and Charles Zimmerman of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU),Sorin, Gerald (1985). ''The Prophetic Minority: American Jewish Immigrant Radicals, 1880-1920''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pg. 155. were re-elected by
acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...
along with SPDSF's first national vice chairman, James Glaser. In his opening speech, Rustin called for an organized effort against the "reactionary policies of the Nixon Administration", while at the same time he criticized the "irresponsibility and élitism of the ' New Politics' liberals". At the convention, elements within the YPSL denounced what they termed the "McGovern takeover" of the Democratic Party, citing the "supercilious antilabor elitism" of the "New Politics Liberals". The dilemma facing socialists in 1972 was that in order to maintain their customary pro-labor stance, they had to ally themselves with the major U.S. trade unions, such as the
AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
under President George Meany. But some of those unions had drifted to the right, for example, Meany enjoyed close ties with Nixon and often agreed with his Vietnam policies. By endorsing McGovern's call for an immediate end to the Vietnam War, Harrington set himself in opposition to sections of the U.S. labor establishment, and to many of his socialist colleagues. The SPDSF voted 73 to 34 to rename itself Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA). The rename was meant to be "politically realistic". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' observed that the Socialist Party of America (SPA) had last sponsored a U.S. presidential candidate, Darlington Hoopes, back in
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
, and he received only 2,121 votes cast in just six states. Because SPA had ceased sponsoring candidates, the name "Party" was misleading, according to the convention's majority report, because it hindered the recruiting of Democratic Party activists. The name "Socialist" was replaced by "
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
" since many Americans associated
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
with Soviet Communism. SDUSA also wished to differentiate itself from two small Marxist parties, the Socialist Workers Party and the
Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...
. Harrington said he was "very saddened" by the name change: During the convention, the majority (Unity Caucus) won every vote by a ratio of roughly two to one. The convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the Unity Caucus, eight seats for Harrington's Coalition Caucus, two for a Debs Caucus, and one for the independent Samuel H. Friedman. All of the minority caucuses as well as Friedman opposed the name change. The convention adopted program proposals in a variety of areas. On foreign policy, it demanded "firmness toward Communist aggression". It opposed closer relations with the Castro regime in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. On the Vietnam War, the convention opposed "any efforts to bomb Hanoi into submission" and instead advocated a negotiated peace agreement, which should protect Communist political cadres in South Vietnam from further military or police reprisals. Harrington's proposal for a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
and a withdrawal from Vietnam by a specified date was defeated.


Formation of DSOC

Several months after the convention, Harrington ended his membership in SDUSA. He and his supporters from the Coalition Caucus soon formed DSOC. Many Debs Caucus members also resigned from SDUSA and formed the
Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party of the United States of America (also Socialist Party USA or SPUSA) is a socialist political party in the United States. SPUSA formed in 1973, one year after the Socialist Party of America splintered into three: Social De ...
. Despite opposing the SPDSF majority, Harrington acknowledged the validity of its members' concerns: Harrington's Coalition Caucus sought to expand the earlier New Politics movement in the Democratic Party into a viable left-wing pressure-group, advancing an avowed socialist agenda and attempting to win support for the agenda among Democratic officeholders. Harrington led members from his caucus as well as from his other political and social networks to establish DSOC in 1973. He later referred to his small initial DSOC cadre as "the defeated remnant of an already defeated remnant". When recounting the history of the democratic left movement in the U.S., DSA President Joseph M. Schwartz wrote: Harrington defended his choice of recruiting " peaceniks" over trade unionists:


DSOC founding convention

The June 1973 issue of ''Newsletter of the Democratic Left'' announced that a "new, nationwide socialist organization" will be launched at DSOC's founding convention on October 12, 1973 in New York City. Membership dues (which included a subscription to the ''Newsletter'') were solicited, with rates of $3.50 for students and $7.00 for regular membership accepted until January 1, 1974. The convention was to be a three-day affair at the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. The convention was not composed of elected delegates, but instead was open to the public, with about 500 people in attendance. The keynote speaker chosen for the occasion was David Lewis, one of the architects of the
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
, the
social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
parliamentary opposition party of Canada. On the convention's second day on October 13, the proceedings moved to the McAlpin Hotel, located at the corner of Broadway and 34th Street in New York City, and began in earnest. Harrington delivered an address to the gathering. Among the statements he made at the convention were, "It is time for the democratic Left to close the books on the differences of the 1960s", and "We must go where the people are, which is the liberal wing of the Democratic Party". The attendees next broke up into small workshops, focusing on subjects such as "unions", "
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
", "racial equality", "Democratic Party", and "equality" and " detente". The workshop chairs were appointed in advance and included
Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born March 3, 1935) is an American Political theory, political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of the left-win ...
, Bogdan Denitch,
Christopher Lasch Robert Christopher Lasch (June 1, 1932 – February 14, 1994) was an American historian and social critic who was a history professor at the University of Rochester. He sought to use history to demonstrate what he saw as the pervasiveness with ...
and others. A panel discussion on "Socialism and the Welfare State" was also held, featuring Harrington's close political associate, the historian and magazine editor Irving Howe, who would become one of DSOC's prominent members. The final day of the convention saw the election of a governing National Board and ratification of a DSOC constitution.


Membership size and structure

When Harrington broke away and formed DSOC, he took an estimated 200 SDUSA members with him (note: SDUSA claimed a total membership of about 18,000 in 1973). In this 1988 autobiography, Harrington estimates that DSOC began with a cadre of about 250 members. Counting the additional people recruited from other places, DSOC started with 840 members. The Committee's first paid staffer was Jack Clark, a 23-year-old from
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
who received $50 a month and use of a spare bed in the home of Debbie Meier, herself a second generation socialist and important figure in DSOC's inner circle. Her home served as the group's base of operations up until the October 1973 convention, at which time DSOC rented a tiny basement office.


Joining the Socialist International

In autumn of 1976, Harrington and Clark were the sole DSOC representatives to attend the
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Congress of the
Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...
(SI). As Harrington describes it, he lobbied privately for several days to have DSOC admitted to the SI. Near the end of the Congress, he gave a five-minute speech to the governing board on DSOC's efforts to build "a mainstream American Left". Afterwards, Being a consultative member meant that DSOC representatives would have a voice but no vote at future SI Congresses. Then, two years later, DSOC was admitted as a full member.


Publications

The publication that would become the official organ of DSOC was initially an eight-page letter-sized monthly called ''Newsletter of the Democratic Left'' (the name was later shortened to ''Democratic Left''). The first issue appeared in March 1973 under the editorship of Michael Harrington. He had prior experience working on SPA's weekly newspaper, ''New America'', with Jack Clark as his Managing Editor. A front-page essay by Harrington in the debut issue, entitled "The New Shape of Our Politics", made nary a mention of the bitter factional fight that preceded DSOC's formation: ''Democratic Left'' continues today as the publication of the Democratic Socialists of America. DSOC also published a number of discussion bulletins and pamphlets, containing typewritten content submitted by its members about various issues of concern.


Ideology and strategy

DSOC presented itself as an explicitly socialist organization. In electoral politics, it worked within the Democratic Party, where it aimed to broaden the base of support for "democratic-left" ideas. In Harrington's view, the task facing his organization was "to build a new American majority for social change". He often used the phrases "the left wing of the possible" and "the left wing of realism". While acknowledging the importance of trade unions, Harrington said unions alone were not sufficient to win political power. Instead he argued that a democratic socialist coalition must unite with "college-educated and issue-oriented" activists in the Democratic Party: DSOC proposed winning power through the tactic of "realignment", i.e., uniting forces within the Democratic Party on a democratic socialist platform. DSOC members ran for political office, but almost always within the Democratic Party. In addition, DSOC promoted the individual efforts of its dues payers and supporters, many of whom were active in labor unions or other political organizations. A few Committee members, e.g., California Rep. Ron Dellums and
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
member
Ruth Messinger Ruth Wyler Messinger (born November 6, 1940) is a former American political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giulian ...
, won elected office. DSOC had public support from union leaders such as Victor Reuther of the
United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...
, William W. Winpisinger of the International Association of Machinists, and various officials of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.


Democratic Socialists of America

DSOC ceased to exist in 1982 when it merged with the New American Movement (NAM) to form the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Discussions with representatives of NAM, a successor to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), had begun as early as 1977. The merger was favored by DSOC's left-wing, led by historian Jim Chapin, which sought to bring into the Committee many former participants in the 1960s
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...
who were in search of a new political home. DSOC formally endorsed the idea of merging with NAM at its 1979 Houston convention. However, the merger proposal did generate vocal opposition. Forces on DSOC's right-wing, led by Irving Howe and calling themselves the Committee Against the NAM Merger (CATNAM), urged that instead of courting New Left survivors, DSOC should emphasize outreach to larger forces in the labor movement. Besides sharing NAM's distrust of the Democratic Party, many CATNAM adherents had misgivings about NAM's position toward
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. DSOC maintained belief in a
two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...
that guaranteed Israel's continued existence, while NAM members tended to view the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO) as engaged in an anti-colonial liberation struggle. Ultimately, a careful statement was worked out on the Middle East based upon a two-state solution, and merger talks moved forward. The 1981 DSOC National Convention was marked by more heated debate on the question of uniting with NAM. It was resolved by a vote of approximately 80% of the delegates in favor and none against; the other 20%, who supported the CATNAM position, abstained from voting. Harrington later noted: "Our opponents wanted to indicate they were unhappy — and that they were staying". The unity convention, held in Detroit in 1982, joined NAM and DSOC, thereby establishing the DSA. The gathering was addressed by George Crockett, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Harrington delivered the keynote address. The DSA organization claimed a membership of 6,000 at the time of its formation, with nearly 5,000 coming from DSOC.


Footnotes


Further reading


''Newsletter of the Democratic Left''
First ten issues. New York. Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. 1973.
''We Are Socialists of the Democratic Left''
Fifth Anniversary edition. New York. Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. 1982.
''For the Record: The Report by the Social Democrats, USA on the Resignation of Michael Harrington and his Attempt to Split the American Socialist Movement''
New York. Social Democrats, USA. 1973. Polemic against Michael Harrington from the time of the 1973 rupture with the Social Democrats, USA.


External links


Democratic Socialists of America official website
DSAUSA.org, successor organization to DSOC.
Guide to the Michael Harrington Papers
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. {{authority control Defunct democratic socialist organizations in the United States Defunct social democratic organizations in the United States Political parties established in 1973 Political parties disestablished in 1982 Political advocacy groups in the United States New Left DSOC Socialist Party of America