Socialism 2026: Full Schedule

2:30pm CDT

Mother Jones and the Early Socialist Movement: Lessons for Today

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

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, one of the Socialist Party's most successful organizers, a founder of the Industrial Workers of the World and the most successful labor organizer of the early 20th century constantly turned to her socialist beliefs in constructing innovative organizing strategies and tactics. What lessons does she leave us for struggle today?

Speakers

Rosemary Feurer

Rosemary Feurer is Distinguished Professor of History at Northern Illinois University specializing in labor and social movements. A key organizer in the effort to successfully organize the faculty at her university, Feurer was a founding member of DSA and is the Director of the Mother... Read More →

Joseph Rathke

Joe Rathke is a PhD student in labor history at the University of Chicago. He was a lead organizer in the successful effort to organize the 3000 member Graduate Students United-UE Local 1103, on the bargaining team for the groundbreaking first contract and is serving his second term... Read More →

Sponsors

Mother Jones Heritage Project

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

Radical History

4:30pm CDT

Why Eugene Debs Matters

Friday September 4, 2026 4:30pm - 6:00pm CDT

TBA

Eugene V. Debs died 100 years ago, but the radical vision of this five-time Socialist presidential candidate, is more relevant than ever. This session is a conversation with Shawn Gude, the author of a new biography of Debs, who in 1920 received a million votes while running from prison.

Speakers

Allison Duerk

Allison Duerk has served as the director of the Eugene V. Debs Museum since 2016. Originally from rural northeast Indiana, Allison studied political science and music at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. Allison's work at the museum connects the Debs legacy to ongoing movements... Read More →

Shawn Gude

Shawn Gude is the author of American Socialist: The Life and Legacy of Eugene V. Debs (October 2026, Simon & Schuster).

Friday September 4, 2026 4:30pm - 6:00pm CDT
TBA

Radical History

10:00am CDT

Lessons of the Russian Revolution

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

TBA

The 1917 Russian Revolution was one of the 20th century’s most important events. Its early successes inspired workers internationally, but within a decade the revolution had degenerated, and the early gains were replaced with labor camps, show trials, and bureaucratic dictatorship. What lessons does this history hold for socialists today?

Speakers

Phil Gasper

Phil Gasper is co-editor of New Politics, editor of an annotated edition of The Communist Manifesto, and a member of the Tempest Collective.

Suzi Weissman

Suzi Weissman is an editor of Against the Current and Critique. She is an award-winning journalist who hosts “Beneath the Surface” on Los Angeles’ KPFK radio, and the author of Victor Serge: The Course is Set on Hope.

Sponsors

Critique

New Politics

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

Radical History

12:00pm CDT

Che’s “New Man” and The Bodhisattva Revolutionary

Saturday September 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT

TBA

This panel will examine Che Guevara's concept of the "New Socialist Man" (person) and argue for the necessity of cultivating a revolutionary subjectivity through struggle. Using the lens of Buddhist meditation, it will explore how we can elevate consciousness through love, interdependence, and service to others in the world--creating a truly communist subjectivity in the process.

Speakers

Breht O’Shea

Breht is the host of Rev Left Radio, Co-Host of the Red Menace podcast, author of an upcoming book put out by the left wing publisher Iskra Books titled "A Letter to Young Revolutionaries", a founding member of Socialist Night School (a community based political education program... Read More →

Sponsors

Rev Left Radio

Saturday September 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT
TBA

Radical History

3:00pm CDT

The Revolutionary Legacies and Lineages of Grace Lee Boggs

Saturday September 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT

TBA

This workshop is an introduction to the life and thoughts of this Detroit-based Chinese-US American labor organizer, Black Power activist, and leftist Asian American icon. We will explore how her revolutionary legacy continues to inform visionary projects in Detroit and global movements. Drawing from the lessons I’ve learned over two summers in Detroit, together we will envision what a visionary, place-based, relational organizing could look like for your local context.

Speakers

Lily Luo

Dr. Lily Luo is a scholar, organizer, and artist based in New York City and working at the University of Connecticut. She recently successfully defended her dissertation titled “Learning to Transform: The Revolutionary Legacies and Lineages of Grace Lee Boggs” at the University... Read More →

Saturday September 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
TBA

Radical History

5:00pm CDT

The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn

Saturday September 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT

TBA

Radical historian Howard Zinn changed the way Americans think about their history, but his life itself is a lesson in radical commitment. From the Great Depression to WWII to the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam war, he was part and parcel of the social movements that shaped our world. Join Dave Zirin, author of a new critically-praised book about Howard Zinn’s incredible life and author and actor Brian Jones (who played Marx in Zinn’s one man play ‘Marx in Soho’) for a conversation about the life of Howard Zinn and what his vision and work mean today.

Speakers

Brian Jones

Brian Jones is the author of Black History Is for Everyone

Dave Zirin

Saturday September 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
TBA

Radical History

5:00pm CDT

The Young Lords Speak: Building Revolution on the Streets of Chicago

Saturday September 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT

TBA

In their field jackets and signature purple berets, the Young Lords mobilized their community for liberation and against gentrification, poverty, racism, and police brutality. Join historian Jacqueline Lazu and Chicago 33rd Ward Alderperson Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez as they explore how the Young Lords grew into one of the most dynamic revolutionary community organizations of the late 1960s and early ’70s.

Speakers

Jacqueline Lazú

Jacqueline Lazú is a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at DePaul University and the author of numerous scholarly articles on the Young Lords in Chicago.

Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez

Saturday September 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
TBA

Radical History

5:00pm CDT

When Socialists Turned to the Factory Floor

Saturday September 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT

TBA

In 1971 the International Socialists relocated the organization's center to Detroit and pivoted its priority activity to organizing in industry. The experiences of IS members who "industrialized" provided lesdsons that remain highly relevant for socialists in today's workplaces, unions and rank and file movements.

Speakers

Candace Cohen

Jack Weinberg

Sponsors