Is the United States a democracy? What steps could we make today to improve democracy here? What will potential roadblocks be, and how do we overcome them to achieve a society that works for instead of against the working class?
Join the Education Committee’s Democracy Social Discussion Group for a series of informal discussions about democracy.
Schedule
Our discussion group sessions will be held both in-person and on Zoom on the second Saturday of each month. There is no required reading, but we are providing links to relevant material for your reference.
Click on a date in the box for specific information about that session.
Outline
Upcoming
No sessions are scheduled at this time.
Past
August 10, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Recommended Reading
Chapter resolution adopted at July 28, 2024, General Assembly: For a Democratic Constitution
Location
This session will be hosted on Zoom only.
July 13, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Recommended Reading
Reconstructing Democracy in America: An Interview with Aziz Rana. Socialist Forum, Winter 2021.
Further Learning
Class: The NPEC Podcast. DSA National Political Education Committee, 2024.
Escaping the Constitutional Bind, Pt. 1
Escaping the Constitutional Bind, Pt. 2
Rana, Aziz. The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them. United States: University of Chicago Press, 2024.
Find it at the library: LINK+
Location
This session will be hosted on Zoom only.
June 8, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Recommended Reading
Democracy Was a Decolonial Project. Boston Review, May 30, 2024.
Further Reading
Boggs, James. Racism and the Class Struggle: The Meaning of Black Revolt in the United States. United States, Monthly Review Press, 2021.
Find the original 1970 version at the library: San Diego Circuit | LINK+
Du Bois, W.E.B. Black Reconstruction (LOA #350): An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880. United States, Library of America, 2021.
Find it at the library: San Diego Circuit | San Diego County Library (audiobook) | LINK+
Elbaum, Max. Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che. United Kingdom, Verso, 2018.
Find it at the library: San Diego Circuit | LINK+
Location
This session will be hosted on Zoom only.
May 11, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
This session will focus on DSA’s endorsement policies.
Recommended Reading
none
Location
This session will be hosted on Zoom only.
April 13, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
This session will focus on what position DSA should take on the 2024 presidential election.
Recommended Reading
2024 Presidential Election Discussion Questions
Location
This session will be hosted on Zoom only.
March 9, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Recommended Reading
A Blueprint for a New Party. Jacobin, November 8, 2016.
Location
City Heights/Weingart Library (how to get there)
We will meet at the main desk.
February 10, 2024
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Follow-up to Participatory Democracy Night School
Recommended Reading
America is Not a Democracy. The American Prospect, January 29, 2024.
Location
College-Rolando Library (how to get there)
We will meet on the patio in the back of the library.
Locations
City Heights/Weingart Library
The City Heights/Weingart Library is located at 3795 Fairmount Ave. (map)
If you’re traveling via public transportation, you have a few options depending on your starting location:
- Take the Green Line trolley to Grantville station and then take the 13 bus to Fairmount Ave. and Landis St.
-or- - Take the Orange Line trolley to Euclid Avenue station and then take the 13 bus to Fairmount Ave. and Wightman St.
-or- - The 7 bus runs down University Ave. between Park Boulevard and College Ave. every 15 minutes.
College-Rolando Library
The College-Rolando Library is located at 6600 Montezuma Rd. (map) We will meet on the patio in the back of the library.
If you’re traveling via public transportation, take the Green Line trolley to Alvarado station and then walk .7 miles down Reservoir Dr. to where it intersects Montezuma Rd.
Zoom
Can’t join us in person? Click here to register for the Zoom sessions.