May 19, 2023
“Socialism Is the Future”: Inside the 2023 YDSA Conference
By Eleanor Buchanan
In mid-April, hundreds of young socialists from around the country gathered at the Chicago Teachers Union for a weekend of education and debate.
By Zurie Pope
Last year, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade., ignoring decades of precedent with the Dobbs v. Jackson Health Organization decision. Republicans have used majorities in statehouses to curtail civil rights and liberties for queer and transgender communities. Tennessee Republicans were expelled Democratic lawmakers for calling for gun control in the wake of a school shooting in Nashville. Billionaire funded think tanks have drafted legislation that could erase decades of child labor law and protections.
All the while, members of the Democratic Socialists of America, and their youth wing, the Young Democratic Socialists of America have been campaigning, door-knocking, and text-banking to keep the fight for a better world alive. DSA chapters in Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio fought hard to help defeat anti-abortion measures in their respective states, while YDSA propelled strike activity on campuses from California to New York.
That sustained sense of hope permeated YDSA’s 2023 Winter Conference. In mid-April, hundreds of young socialists gathered to meet, debate, and learn from one another under the theme “Socialism is the Future.” Conferences are treated as an education forum, and the interactions from members—longtime and newer—often inform the resolutions and elections at YDSA and DSA’s conventions.
