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5 reviews for:
We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism—American Style
Peter Dreier, Michael Kazin, Kate Aronoff
4.05 AVERAGE
5 reviews for:
We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism—American Style
Peter Dreier, Michael Kazin, Kate Aronoff
4.05 AVERAGE
This is a fine collection of essays, overwhelmingly addressing themselves to the theoretical and practical issues pertinent to a huge range of democratic socialist policies. The essays I enjoyed the most were Naomi Klein's on climate change, Robert Kuttner's on corporate power, Michelle Chen's on immigration, and Thomas Sugrue's on urbanism. None of them argued anything entirely new, and in some cases the authors were plainly cribbing from work that they'd published before, but that doesn't take away from the good ideas they put forward, even when I disagreed with them (for example, both Sugrue's insistence that DIY/localist-style socialism could never scale up to address macro-level injustices, and Chen's mostly, in my view anyway, empty distinction between "no borders" and "open borders," generated all sorts of questions in my head). A few of the essays took a larger political or historical view of problems and possibilities democratic socialism in America, and I really would have liked to have read more of that. My great interest right now is understanding if democratic socialism, as it has revived in America over the past five years, has really come to contribute anything distinct to the ideological construct itself; Bill Fletcher's and Harold Meyerson's essays probably come closest to doing this, but ultimately that's not their focus, so my highest hopes for the volume were not satisfied. Still, any book that includes Michael Walzer's classic and deeply important essay on socialist theory, "A Day in the Life of a Socialist Citizen," is worth owning, so I'm glad I have this one.
This book is a collection of articles on the history of leftist politics in the United States, probably much information that is barely mentioned in US History textbooks.
Pretty good, read this to understand difference between democratic socialism and just being generally progressive. Felt like I learned a lot. Still not convinced by some of the utopian arguments the authors make but it’s really cool to see concrete policy ideas coming out of the left that could actually be implemented and have wide support.
A very good primer on the policy positions of the DSA, and one that has convinced me that socialism (in some form) and democracy are a good pairing. The essays are diverse in scope and subject (and readability, though most are solid), leading to an overall sense that while there may be discrete policies that could be enacted to advance DSA values, the writers share a refreshingly holistic sense of the changes that need to be made.
Whether the U.S. is ready for these is another question, not really addressed, and it's may be beside the point--the policies advocated in these essays could end certain types of bureaucratic and institutional hypocrisy and racism that have been shrugged off as unalterable during my entire life. One hopes their specificity and indicated values might help break down the boogeyman label of "socialism" as a scare tactic in our politics, though I'm afraid that's a long hard road.
PS: possibly the best essay is by Francesca Fiorentini, writing about the situation of the arts and cultural workers in the U.S., of which she says, "What we're left with is what I call 'Coors Light Sharia,' a cultural handmaid's tale that looks a lot like the 2017 presidential inauguration, in which country singer Toby Keith sang his hit 'Beer for My Horses.' Cringe." No doubt at all where she stands.
Whether the U.S. is ready for these is another question, not really addressed, and it's may be beside the point--the policies advocated in these essays could end certain types of bureaucratic and institutional hypocrisy and racism that have been shrugged off as unalterable during my entire life. One hopes their specificity and indicated values might help break down the boogeyman label of "socialism" as a scare tactic in our politics, though I'm afraid that's a long hard road.
PS: possibly the best essay is by Francesca Fiorentini, writing about the situation of the arts and cultural workers in the U.S., of which she says, "What we're left with is what I call 'Coors Light Sharia,' a cultural handmaid's tale that looks a lot like the 2017 presidential inauguration, in which country singer Toby Keith sang his hit 'Beer for My Horses.' Cringe." No doubt at all where she stands.
[2.5 stars] An anthology of essays examining American politics, economics, and society through a democratic socialist lens. I picked this book up after an acquaintance’s positive review, hoping to learn more about the application of democratic socialism but ultimately found it lacking. A majority of essays were written by academics and think tank-ers, ironically showing that even in a book about the power of the working class, the editors still failed to center working class voices of color and movement building examples. And because of that, what was supposed to be a book about democratic socialism actually made a strong case for social democracy where organizing is simply a means to a policy change end.
It should be no surprise that Dorothy Roberts’ essay on the limits of Medicare for All for Black communities and especially Black women, pushed forth the type of deep intersectional analysis I was hoping for in every essay. Other essays on “Governing Socialism” and “Democracy, Equality, & the Future of Workers” were also standouts in blending theory and application.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend this book for those new to learning about democratic socialist theory or ways to apply it in their organizing; surely there are better essays on Truthout and Jacobin, essay collections from publishers like Haymarket and AK Press, and case studies from DSA chapters. I do think some essays would be strong syllabus additions for an undergraduate or graduate sociology or social work policy or macro practice class, where the focus is academic essays on social democracy and the historical conditions that demand it.
Looking back, I should’ve known from the beginning that We Own The Future would frustrate and disappoint me after the opening essay tracing democratic socialist history by two of the white male editors credited Gloria Steinem’s 1960’s and 70’s activism with popularizing intersectionality, an assertion that’s both misogynoirist and temporally inaccurate. So, if you decide to dive in for a cover to cover read, do so at your own risk and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Goodreads Challenge: 30/72
Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book you picked up because the title caught your attention
Femibooks Nonfiction Reading Challenge: a book about economics
It should be no surprise that Dorothy Roberts’ essay on the limits of Medicare for All for Black communities and especially Black women, pushed forth the type of deep intersectional analysis I was hoping for in every essay. Other essays on “Governing Socialism” and “Democracy, Equality, & the Future of Workers” were also standouts in blending theory and application.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend this book for those new to learning about democratic socialist theory or ways to apply it in their organizing; surely there are better essays on Truthout and Jacobin, essay collections from publishers like Haymarket and AK Press, and case studies from DSA chapters. I do think some essays would be strong syllabus additions for an undergraduate or graduate sociology or social work policy or macro practice class, where the focus is academic essays on social democracy and the historical conditions that demand it.
Looking back, I should’ve known from the beginning that We Own The Future would frustrate and disappoint me after the opening essay tracing democratic socialist history by two of the white male editors credited Gloria Steinem’s 1960’s and 70’s activism with popularizing intersectionality, an assertion that’s both misogynoirist and temporally inaccurate. So, if you decide to dive in for a cover to cover read, do so at your own risk and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Goodreads Challenge: 30/72
Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book you picked up because the title caught your attention
Femibooks Nonfiction Reading Challenge: a book about economics