Socialism 2026: Full Schedule

2:30pm CDT

From Prairie to Poppy: How Struggles for Land, War, and Farming Are Connected from Chicago to Palestine

Friday September 4, 2026 2:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

You're walking through the produce section and spot your favorite fruit! But how did it get to this grocery store? Whose labor, land, and future is tied up in the farming, packaging, and shipping of that fruit? In this workshop, participants will learn about how the struggles for food sovereignty are intertwined with struggles against imperialism and militarism. Join Chicago Dissenters and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) for an interactive session where participants will discuss, research, and leave with tools for how to divest from capitalist food systems.

Speakers

Heather Aubry

A. Funk

Rumsha S.

Sponsors

Dissenters

Friday September 4, 2026 2:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
Jackson Park B

Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

7:30pm CDT

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Palestine, Internationalism, Abolition

Friday September 4, 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm CDT

W190

The struggle against state terror extends from the occupied lands and bombed homes of Palestine to the prisons and detention camps of Trump’s America. Join Angela Y. Davis for a conversation on Palestine solidarity, Black feminism, and the abolitionist fight for the future.

Speakers

Angela Y. Davis

Angela Y. Davis is Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz. An activist, writer, and lecturer, her work focuses on prisons, police, abolition, and the related intersections of race, gender, and class. She is the author of many books, f... Read More →

Naomi Murakawa

Naomi Murakawa is an associate professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. She is the author of The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America and the editor of the Abolitionist Papers book series at Haymarket Books... Read More →

Friday September 4, 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm CDT
W190

Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

10:00am CDT

Building the Anti-War Movement: Identifying and Organizing Against U.S. Military Subcontractors

Saturday September 5, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT

Burnham ABC

What will it take to meaningfully interrupt the U.S. military industrial complex? How can we engage in effective anti-war action against U.S. imperialism? Using the experience of organizing against Howmet Aerospace, a military subcontractor based in Pittsburgh, panelists will show how local movements can identify hundreds of of lesser-known subcontractors that participate in war profiteering and build effective movements to dismantle their power.

Speakers

Matt Fiorillo

Joseph Gumina

Julia Mente

Valerie Wallach

Sponsors

BDS Pittsburgh

Saturday September 5, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
Burnham ABC

Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

10:00am CDT

Refusing Erasure: Justice, Accountability and Historical Memory in the War on Terror

Sunday September 6, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT

Clark ABC

This September marks 25 years since 9/11 and the launch of the War on Terror. Built on harmful narratives and policies targeting Muslims and other marginalized communities, the war has relied on erasure and silencing to endure. This panel - which includes a survivor from Guantanamo - will explore the importance of documenting and preserving our histories to resist forgetting and sustain our ongoing demands for accountability, justice and our visions beyond it.

Speakers

Negin Owliaei

Mansoor Adayfi

Mansoor Adayfi is a writer, artist, human rights advocate, and former prisoner who
spent over 14 years at Guantánamo Bay Prison Camp without charges or trial. He was resettled to Serbia in 2016 as part of an agreement between the US government and Serbia. along with American lawyers and US-based NGOs, he co-founded the Guantanamo Survivors Fund... Read More →

Maha Hilal

Dr. Maha Hilal is a Muslim Arab American expert on institutionalized Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and counternarrative work. She is the author of the book Innocent Until Proven Muslim: Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and the Muslim Experience Since 9/11, the founding Executive... Read More →

Rashida James Saadiya

Rashida James-Saadiya (she/her) is a writer, cultural educator, and executive director of the Muslim Power Building Project, a collaborative learning space dedicated to supporting emerging organizers. Her work explores the intersections of identity, kinship, and social repair—themes... Read More →

Sponsors

Muslim Counterpublics Lab

Sunday September 6, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
Clark ABC

Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

10:00am CDT

The Long Struggle for UAW Divestment From Israel Bonds, and the Future of Labor for Palestine

Monday September 7, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT

Erie

Building on historic protests led by Arab and Black rank-and-file auto workers in 1973-1974, and recent shop-floor struggles over Palestine across UAW-represented workplaces and beyond, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) and UAW Labor for Palestine won a landmark vote at the 2026 UAW Convention to finally divest the union from Israel Bonds. How did this come about, what is its broader significance, and how can we build on this victory to escalate US labor solidarity with the Palestinian working class?

Speakers

Bill Mullen

Bill Mullen is a member of Socialist Horizon and the Committee to Defend Tom Alter.

Andrew Bergman

Co-Chair, Unite All Workers For Democracy (UAWD)

Andrew Bergman is an assembly worker at General Motors, member of UAW Local 22, and UAWD Co-Chair

Sophia Gurule

Sophia Elena Gurulé (she/her/ella) is a member of Critical Resistance based in Brooklyn, New York with experience organizing at the intersection of prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition, migrant justice, and organized labor. A long-time member of the Dignity Not Detention coalition, Sophia has... Read More →

Michael Letwin

A third-generation political activist, and a revolutionary socialist since the 1960s, Michael Letwin has participated in movements against the Vietnam War, apartheid South Africa, and U.S. imperialism in Iran, Central America, the Middle East, and around the world. He is a former... Read More →

Sponsors

Labor for Palestine National Network

Monday September 7, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
Erie

Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism

2:30pm CDT

7:30pm CDT

10:00am CDT

10:00am CDT

10:00am CDT

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