The goal of this primer is to create an ongoing orientation program for new members that is facilitated by members who have previously engaged with our political education program. It is meant to prepare members for not only local but national level leadership via contextualization of the ideas and terminology that is pervasive throughout national DSA as well as its political and economic analysis.
Readings
You’ve Joined DSA – Now What? by Liam B, SJDSA Member
In the creation of our socialism curriculum, we wanted the introduction to have a more modern text as well as something that defines the most commonly heard terms within DSA meetings. Ideally, it would have been a short one to keep it as unintimidating to new-comers as possible. Unfortunately, no such archive of terms existed, and modern texts tend to be either overly long or assume at least some familiarity with foundational texts. As such, we have written this article to serve both of these purposes.
The Principles of Communism by Friedrich Engels
This text was intended to serve the same purpose as the “Manifesto of the Communist Party:” being distributed en masse to win support. The Manifesto is a call to action, serving that intended purpose better and thus it won out in its time. However, Principles is a series of questions, most of which new socialists have, followed by their answers. Thus, we have determined that this text is more suitable for our purposes: educating new members of DSA.
Wage Labour and Capital and Value, Price and Profit by Karl Marx
The primary purpose of these texts is to elucidate the laws in which wages and commodity prices are determined, and their role in regards to the social relation to production that is capital. In defining these relations, the core relationship between labor and capital is outlined; how capitalism relies on the exploitation of the laborer in the commodification of labor-power for profit, and how this relationship results in irreconcilable differences between workers and capitalists. Wage, Labour, and Capital primarily focuses on the productive side of commodities and Value, Price, and Profit primarily focuses on the consumptive side. This idea is the understanding that underlines a lot of the economic ideas that are pervasive throughout much of DSA.
Workers Deserve More! by the DSA Program Committee
Imagining a day off in a world without capitalism: The DSA Program, “Workers Deserve More!” was developed through a democratic and collaborative effort following the 2025 DSA National Convention. It outlines the overarching agreed upon goals of our organization, covering how we envision thriving working-class communities, working-class foreign policy, and a true working-class democracy.
Post-Reading Questions
It is recommended that you read all associated texts in their entirety before attempting to answer the following questions.
- What is “the proletariat?” How does it differ from “the working class?”
- What is the bourgeoisie? How does it relate to the proletariat?
- What is a capitalist? Can a proletarian be a capitalist or vice-versa? Why or why not?
- Why does the working class suffer the most during times of economic hardship?
- Marx and Engels used the terms private property and personal property. What is “private property” and how does it differ from personal property? When did private property originate?
- Terms like proletariat, bourgeoisie, private property, and personal property came into use in specific historical and material circumstances. Why is it important to understand language in its context, and how might we adapt such terminology to our own context?
- What is “labor-power” and why does it matter?
- Why can a proletarian only free themself by abolishing private property?
- Why did Marx and Engels emphasize the revolutionary potential of the proletariat over the other sections of the working class?
Extra Reading
“Manifesto of the Communist Party” by Karl Marx
The manifesto further explains many of the points brought up in principles of communism as well as served as an agitational explainer on the relations between different classes and how communists should relate to the proletariat, oppositional parties, and other forms of socialism. This text—besides going into more of the concepts in Principles of Communism—also gives food for thought on how DSA should try to relate to the working class and other socialist groups/ideologies in the modern American context.