Portland DSA: The Relationship Between Socialists & Progressives: a Panel
Channel: Portland DSA
Date: 2020-11-15

A panel on the relationship between socialists and progressives from Portland Democratic Socialists of America. 

Featuring:

-Brandon M.
-Rod S.
-Jad B.

What is the relationship between socialists and progressives? Today, it often seems as if the two are closely related. Self-professed representatives of both categories work with each other on elections, social movements, pressure campaigns, and publish in each other’s respective journalistic outlets.

However, this has not always been the case. In the 1860s, Ferdinand Lassalle pleaded to the workers of Germany not to join the Progressive Party of the day and instead form their own independent organization. The prewar SPD was likewise overtly hostile to any and all other progressive political forces in society. In the first decade of the 20th century there were repeated attempts to form a socialist party in Great Britain against the Labor Party. The Socialist Party of America under Eugene Debs opposed both the progressive and conservative wings of capital, and as late as the 1920s and early 1930s the Communist International was referring to the social democratic parties of the day as “social fascist” and actively organizing against them.

With the threat of fascism looming over Europe and the Soviet Union, the Communist International abruptly shifted this policy to one of the Popular Front. The Communist Party in the United States shifted from opposing to supporting the New Deal and the Democratic Party against the Republicans, falling in behind the war effort in the process.

Since then, the strategies have been much more consistent. Socialists have worked alongside progressives to further the Civil Rights movement, oppose the Vietnam war, build the alter globalization movement, oppose the Iraq War, and elect numerous Democratic Party candidates to office. Today, of course, Socialists have worked tirelessly alongside progressive forces to resist the agenda of Donald Trump, like his continuation of the United States’ inhumane immigration policies and the degradation of environmental regulations.

How should socialists relate to progressives today? Are there contingencies that might push this relationship one way or the other? Should there be a delineation between supporting progressives in elections and supporting them in extra parliamentary efforts? How could these relationships be informed by history to respond to the challenges that we face today?