Transformative Strategies and Electoral Politics

Monday, June 14, 2021 - 1:00pm
CDT
John Lawrence

The popularity of the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016 and again in 2020 demonstrated the appeal of progressive ideas among the electorate.The success of numerous young candidates who are now in Congress showed it was possible to even win elections.This has inspired John Lawrence to dream big.He asks, can the Left build a progressive party which could defeat the corporate oligarchs and start to build an egalitarian democratic society?He will tell us how he thinks it can be done.

Fragmentation is the Achilles Heel of an oppressed majority, he says.The capitalist class dominates the majority working class in large part because the working class does not have the institutional capacity to democratically plan, coordinate, and act in unison. In the U.S., the corporate-dominated two-party system in the U.S. has effectively prevented a working-class party from forming.

In an essay in Jacobin entitled “A Blueprint for a New Party,” Seth Ackerman laid out a strategy for building a mass working-class party that can organize inside or outside of the Democratic Party.

In this talk based on a paper published in Socialism and Democracy, John Lawrence argues that the U.S. Left should start planning the organization of such a “party” now. Taking lessons from progressive electoral activism since the 2016 Sanders campaign, the Left should plan big and imagine scaling electoral activism and fundraising to actually compete with corporate parties. Polling data indicates that a well-organized working class in which everyone votes has the potential to overcome the rigged electoral system and vie for power with the capitalist class. To win, the “party” will need to organize a comprehensive fight for our democratic rights. Moreover the “party” will need to model an innovative internal mass participatory democracy. To inspire mass participation, the "party” platform will have to be both bold, envisioning a transformational, environmentally sustainable political economy grounded in democratic egalitarian principles, and specific; the nuts and bolts of the platform need to be understandable and doable. Now, is the time to plan BIG!

Upcoming Events

Saturday, October 11, 2025 - 3:00pm
CST
Location:
1º de Mayo #58, Colonia Aurora, San Miguel de Allende

In October 2024, we had our first artistic and cultural project to continue speaking about Palestine and to raise our voices in favor of the liberation of the Palestinian people and against the genocide being committed in Palestine.

... Read more
Monday, October 13, 2025 - 1:30pm
CST
Film Screening
Followed by discussion with Brad Rockwell
Location:
La Biblioteca, Teatro Santa Ana, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende

2025 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary

Remarkable largely unknown footage of a dramatic turning point in world history covering events over three continents concerning a tragic coup in the Congo. Featuring: Maya Angelou, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy... Read more

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 12:00pm
CST
Organized by The Reentry Resource Program

You are invited to join a discussion with filmmaker Santiago Esteinou and Cesar Fierro about the new documentaryThe Freedom of Fierro.

César Fierro has just become a free man, and he needs to rebuild his life after being wrongly sentenced to death in Texas. César spent 40 years in prison before being released... Read more

Monday, November 3, 2025 - 1:30pm
CST
Joe Belden
Location:
La Biblioteca, Sala Quezal, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende
This mostly forgotten war led to Mexico losing over half its territory and the United States expanding to the Pacific. The lecture examines the political and economic background of the conflict, what led to it, and the roles of such factors as Texas annexation in 1845, slavery, racism, the Democratic and Whig parties, and Manifest... Read more