Hostile Territory: Mobilizing Resources and Finding Opportunities in the Contemporary U.S. Democratic Socialist Movement

Abstract

This qualitative study of the U.S. democratic socialist movement is based on interviews with 152 members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), as well as field research. Since 2016, the DSA has exploded in membership and public opinion among young people is now more favorable to socialism than capitalism. Traditionally, the absence of an organized socialist movement in the United States has posed a puzzle for sociologists. Now, the presence of one poses a similar puzzle. This dissertation aims to answer the question “Why do we see a socialist movement in the contemporary United States?” through a close examination of the factors driving collective identity formation, mobilization, and tactics in the DSA. It shows how large external events have driven a subset of young people toward socialist activism, and examines the factors that have led this activism to take the form it has. It argues that the development of the contemporary socialist movement needs to be understood both in terms of the macro-level forces creating new leftist consciousness among young people and the local-level political contexts in which the resulting activism takes place, and which shape its trajectory and outcomes. It argues that movement theory needs to take better account of the deep divides and fractures that can exist beneath the surface of a social movement that appears unitary in its culture and identity.