Portland DSA has elected a politically diverse, 35-member delegation to DSA’s national convention. The attending delegates at this biannual event establish DSA’s policy, structure, and political direction, and as such constitute the organization’s highest authority.
The national convention is often a high-stakes, contentious event, and this year is no exception. There are proposals on the table to replace DSA’s political platform, shake up our labor strategy, transform our electoral approach, change national campaign leadership, and formally reprimand some of DSA’s elected members. These issues and others will be decided, in part, by the arguments and votes put forward by the delegation from our chapter in Portland.
Many of Portland’s delegates are organized into national or local political caucuses. Caucuses act like political parties within DSA, organizing around a shared political understanding. Other delegates chose to remain independent, and let their politics speak for themselves. Some members feel the caucus system is politically stifling, while others describe it as the foundation of DSA’s internal democracy. This article will outline the politics of our delegation’s caucuses and non-caucused tendencies.
Portland’s Delegation
21st Century Socialism
2 Delegates
21st Century Socialism (21CS) is a caucus committed to a global south Marxist-Leninist perspective on building socialism. The caucus programa de lucha focuses on the importance of feminism, poverty, anti-imperialism, abolition, and humility towards socialist movements in the third world. 21CS rejects U.S. chauvinism in its socialist analysis as it believes the global south is leading the fight for socialism and socialists in the U.S. have much to learn from its movements. Caucus member Luisa M. is running for re-election to the DSA National Political Committee on the Springs of Revolution slate.
AfroSOC
1 Delegate
The Afro-Socialists and Socialists of Color Caucus (AfroSOC) advocates for and builds power with DSA’s Black, Indigenous, and POC membership and their communities. AfroSOC pursues this work to help build a multiracial working-class base, the only viable strategy for securing a socialist future.
Through public and internal education and agitation, AfroSOC aims to continue the legacy of the Black radical tradition, as well as the radical traditions of other oppressed minorities. AfroSOC’s goal is to act as a network that will support and develop non-white DSA members.
Bread and Roses
8 Delegates
Bread & Roses describes itself as a national caucus of Marxist organizers. Considered by many to be the current political center of DSA, the caucus is perhaps best known for its strong presence in labor union organizing. It believes that socialism must speak to regular people who are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the political establishment. It advocates for rank & file democracy and political leadership of DSA, and rejects the model of liberal non-profits when it comes to internal democracy and staff structure. B&R’s vision for political action is well-expressed in DSA’s 2024 “Workers Deserve More” program, and it has proposed a process for adopting an improved version of that program continuously. B&R is running four candidates for the National Political Committee (NPC), including Hayley Banyai-Becker from Portland’s delegation, and a candidate for national co-chair.
Cultivate Caucus
8 Delegates
Cultivate is a local caucus focused on a collectivist, interdependent, cross-ideological and expansive vision for the Portland chapter. That vision extends in many ways to the national organization and to the world at large. The caucus stands in solidarity with the broad left of DSA: rejecting class-reductionism, promoting international solidarity and diversity of tactics, and valuing emergent horizontal organizing and community care. Cultivate is supporting its member Luisa M. who is running for NPC on the Springs of Revolution slate.
Independent Delegates
8 Delegates
Elected on the basis of their own politics and good work in the chapter, eight members of Portland’s delegation are not members of any caucus. Independent delegates often play the role of kingmaker on the convention floor, but don’t be fooled into thinking of independents as a moderate bloc: They run the gamut from revolutionary Marxism-Leninism to Democratic Party realigners. Portland’s split of independents to caucus-affiliated delegates is in line with national trends.
Marxist Unity Group
2 Delegates
Marxist Unity Group wants DSA to bring workers, renters, prisoners, and immigrants together to stand against capitalist oppression. The caucus wants to turn DSA into an independent, socialist, mass party united around a revolutionary “minimum-maximum” program; one that outlines both the minimum conditions for a working-class seizure of power, and the end goal of communism. The mass party, in MUG’s view, would help liberate mankind from capitalism by transferring political power to the working class by replacing the slavers’ Constitution and establishing a Democratic Socialist Republic. The caucus promotes an agitational approach to electoral work, and wants DSA’s electeds to speak for – and spread socialist ideas to – the people. Marxist Unity Group is considered to be on DSA’s left wing.
Reform and Revolution
8 Delegates
Reform and Revolution is a Revolutionary Marxist caucus in the Trotskyist tradition. Generally considered on the ‘left’ of DSA’s internal struggles, R&R this year is proposing resolutions to prepare for breaking with the Democratic party by building up municipal political independence and running candidates as independents, to expand DSA’s recruitment efforts, and expand member participation in national DSA debates. R&R is dedicated to building the power of DSA in the labor movement through the rank and file strategy, and many of its members are union organizers. They are running one candidate for NPC—Sarah M. — a Portland DSA member.
Convention Stakes
Delegates will be convening in Chicago for three days: August 8-10, to debate DSA’s national policy and direction. The convention docket will be packed. Fifty-nine convention resolutions, changes to bylaws, and platform amendments qualified for consideration through a petitioning process open to all members. Some of these resolutions will be moved into the consent agenda or referred to the National Political Committee (NPC). The remainder, however, will be debated thoroughly on the convention floor by delegates.
The decisions made by the convention will determine what DSA is and does for the next two years and beyond. These decisions will also be mediated largely by the caucus system: about two-thirds of delegates at this year’s convention will be affiliated with one or another caucus. Delegates will also be electing the National Political Committee; DSA’s standing political leadership and its highest body between conventions.
Getting our Portland delegates to Chicago is not an easy task, nor is it cheap. Delegates have limited access to meager national funds which only cover a small fraction of registration, travel, and lodging expenses. This can leave the members of our chapter’s working-class delegation with tough choices to make before deliberations can even begin. Portland needs to send our full complement of representatives to the national convention, to make our voice heard in the national context. If you agree with that, donate here to send our delegates to Chicago! Or, attend our Power Up fundraiser on July 12th! RSVP here!