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In preparation for our convention in July 2013, Solidarity has entered a period of intensive written discussion of the state of the working class and its movements, and left strategy. Selected preconvention documents will be posted on our website, where all are welcome to add comments and join the discussion.
We hope that this discussion among our members, and interested activists of the broader left, can make a contribution to the ongoing evaluation of the movements and socialists’ orientation to them, how socialists organize themselves in the present period, and how to foster socialist and left regroupment.
Approximately every two years, Solidarity holds a convention where members discuss and decide our political approach for the following period. The convention is preceded by a period of written preconvention discussion during which members write documents about the current state of society and the movements, strategies for the left, and tasks for our organization.
Recently and especially in the wake of the Occupy upsurge, discussion has blossomed through the left websites and blogs that have sprung up; we hope to have cross-pollination between our discussions and others before and during our convention.
We’ve identified these priority areas for discussion:
1. The state of the movements and socialist orientation: In this period of austerity and dire economic, environmental, and social crisis, where are the opportunities to fight back and rebuild the strength of working-class movements? What should socialists do in those movements?
2. The immigrant rights movement, the struggle around deportations and the debate around “immigration reform.”
3. Organizational structure and processes: What is the best way for socialists to organize today? How can we best combine the strengths of spontaneity, autonomy, and individual initiative with the power of coordination?
4. Communication and publications: In the present political context, how should socialists make use of communications technology and media to foster political discussion and get our ideas out?
5. Regroupment and refoundation: How can we reunite the fragmented left and move from our present state of weakness and isolation to rebuilding a U.S. left that can develop deep roots in the working class?
Selected documents will be posted regularly, as they become available, until Solidarity’s convention in late July 2013. Anyone if who’d like to respond to the publicly posted documents may do so directly in the Comments section.