When we launched The Call in August 2018, we hoped it would be a site for developing democratic socialist ideas for the 21st century.
In the two and a half years since, we’ve published 120 articles that have covered everything from the life of a rank-and-file telephone worker to the basics of democratic socialism and daily reports on the mass protests against police brutality in 2020.
In 2018, our attention was focused on rebuilding the foundations of democratic socialist politics. We explored the differences between liberalism, ultraleftism, and socialist politics and argued for the inseparability of class and anti-racist politics. We made the — at the time controversial — case for a Bernie 2020 campaign. And we began to think through what kinds of political reforms socialists should fight for.
Then in 2019, we celebrated the ongoing teacher strike wave and the growth of DSA chapters across the country and helped launch a new caucus — Bread & Roses — in DSA. We participated actively in debates ahead of the DSA 2019 National Convention, from making the case for why a strong national DSA would help small chapters grow to defending the need for a clear political education program, asserting the importance of the rank-and-file strategy, and debating how to reform DSA. We developed our thinking on the democratic road to socialism and took a first stab at writing the recent history of DSA.
Most recently, in 2020, we supported the reform campaign in the UAW, looked back on the Bernie campaign, grappled with the new conditions created by the pandemic, featured stories by socialists working in unions, made the case for building a working-class party, and defended the role of electoral campaigns in the socialist movement. Most important, we dedicated our energies in June to daily updates on the uprisings all across the country against police brutality. And at year’s end, we hosted a debate on whether or not socialists should support the lesser-evil against Donald Trump.
This month, we’re proud to relaunch our site with a new look. We’ll bring you more debates and perspectives from DSA’s Bread & Roses caucus. Our “News and Reports” section will keep you updated on developments and innovations in DSA chapters. We’ll tackle urgent questions such as the role of the left under Biden, the best ways for socialists to work in the labor movement, how DSA can become hospitable to more parts of the working class, and a threat assessment of the rise of far right politics. We look forward to sharp and comradely debate.
