Features
Club Spotlight: Hamilton Democratic Socialists
By Allison Kerper ’15, Jack Suria Linares ’15
March 6, 2015
Hamilton Democratic Socialists formed early in the fall of 2014 to create the space necessary to discuss social and economic inequality, politicize the community and take part in organizing student activism on the hill. HDS is part of a national student organization called the Young Democratic Socialists, the youth wing of the largest socialist organization in the United States, the Democratic Socialists of America. As one of the younger chapters, HDS is learning to marry our political education with our activism. For the most part, HDS has engaged in learning about labor, environmentalism, feminism, anti-racism and transculturalism, intersectionality and many other issues throughout our meetings and events. Young Democratic Socialists has a unique status as one of the few national, multi-issue left-wing student activist organizations in the United States. We try to engage in multi-issue platforms to better understand how different systems of oppression and privilege perpetuate various inequalities.
HDS believes that all forms of injustice interconnect and require a holistic reanalysis in order for a new student movement to arise in the United States. HDS aims to foster activism that is committed to democracy as our means of restructuring society. We envision a society where people have a real voice in the choices and relationships that affect their entire lives. We call this vision: democratic socialism — a vision of a more free, democratic and humane society. Our socialism is committed to true democracy, seeking to achieve respect and recognition for every single voice. As capitalism is unlikely to end in the immediate future, HDS fights for reforms today that will weaken the power of corporations and increase the power of working people. We identify as socialists because we reject an economic order sustained by private profit, alienated labor, race and gender discrimination, environmental destruction and brutality and violence in defense of the status quo. We identify as socialists because we share a vision of a humane international social order based both on democratic planning and market mechanisms to achieve equitable distribution of resources, meaningful work, a healthy environment, sustainable growth, gender, racial and ability status equality and non-oppressive relationships.
Every year the Young Democratic Socialists hold a winter outreach conference and summer leadership retreat to share our experiences and build a national community of socialism and activism. During these national gatherings we aim to rejuvenate our commitment to activism and meet new socialists and allies. We participate in student-led workshops, caucuses and social events in order to network and bond with activists throughout the country.
We went to our first Winter Conference on Feb. 13, to create new networks throughout the country. We established HDS as an official chapter of the national organization, meaning that we now we have access to all of the resources that Young Democratic Socialists can provide. We participate in the national dialogue via YDS’s blog, “The Activist.” At the same time, we maintain autonomy by discussing and acting on the issues most relevant to our specific geo-political location at Hamilton College. At the conference, we learned about intersectionality, advanced economic socialism and how socialists will impact the upcoming elections. We know that we are not alone and we know that the socialist movement will only increase over time. Political education and student activism will remain critical to the development of a newly politicized youth in the upcoming future. We live in dangerous times, and we want to take part in reshaping our society to create a more liberated, democratic and equitable world.
At Hamilton, our aim is to push the community to talk politics, but also awaken our peers to the pressing and immediate issues that impact members of our community and the world at large. As students, we should all be discussing relevant political and personal issues with one another in order to create space for new possibilities, which have yet to be accomplished. As socialists, we want to add an analysis of class and socioeconomic inequality to the conversation. We not only want to talk about these issues, but to foster genuine change on campus and in our world.
We seek to eradicate apathy and encourage people to believe in the unimaginable. We want students to understand and get involved with the community. Volunteering is a great place to start. However, we want people to consider the structural inequalities that are too big for volunteers to override (even though volunteering improves the lives of many on a personal level). We already participated in Hamilton’s grandest political protest in recent memory dealing with police violence and the ongoing racist institutions that structure our society. We assisted in organizing a trip to the Million’s March in NYC, which helped to engage students in current political issues. This semester, we have gone to several conferences, including one at Syracuse University to learn about their 18-day school shut down and the reasons and justifications behind their particular activism. We have also helped to push for the addition of a diversity requirement to Hamilton’s curriculum, prompted by an overwhelming lack of understanding of issues of diversity on this campus. This semester we are working to organize future campaigns, invite professional organizers and build relationships with likeminded organizations on campus. Our goal for the near future is to become a recognizable and formidable student organization on campus and to work in solidarity with any organizations who share our vision for a more equitable society.