Socialism 2026: Full Schedule

2:30pm CDT

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

Are you interested in organizing your workplace? Join Jaz Brisack, co-founder of Starbucks Workers United, for an inside look at the skills, tactics, and practices that make inside organizing most effective, and gain hands-on practice in mapping a workplace and untangling workplace dynamics.

Speakers

Jaz Brisack

Jaz Brisack is a union organizer and the co-director of the Inside Organizer School, which trains workers to unionize their workplaces. They have worked on campaigns at companies ranging from Nissan to Starbucks to Tesla to Ben & Jerry's. They are the author of Get on the Job and... Read More →

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

Labor Movement

4:30pm CDT

Why Eugene Debs Matters

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

Superior

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
Superior

Radical History

3:00pm CDT

Resisting Attacks on Schools, from Gaza to Chicago

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

Superior

This panel looks at K-12 schools as sites of imperial violence and attacks on knowledge, including scholasticide in Palestine and repression in the U.S. Demystifying the Anti-Defamation League’s assaults on antiracist teaching, this session grounds us in the knowledge needed to organize our schools — for Palestine, against racism, and with our communities.

Speakers

Hadeil M. Abdelfattah, Ed.D

Hadeil M. Abdelfattah, Ed.D. is a Palestinian-American born and raised on the northside of the city of Chicago. She is an educator of nearly 28 years and is currently a Lead Instructional Coach at Chicago Public Schools. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and wrote an... Read More →

David Stovall, Ph.D

David Stovall, Ph.D. is a professor in the departments of Black Studies and Criminology, Law & Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His scholarship investigates three areas 1) Critical Race Theory, 2) the relationship between housing and education, and 3) the intersection... Read More →

Nora Lester Murad

Nora Lester Murad is a writer and activist. She is the author of the award-winning young adult novel, Ida in the Middle, editor of I Found Myself in Palestine (2020) and co-author of Rest in My Shade (2018). Nora writes commentary for outlets including Mondoweiss, The New Arab, Markaz... Read More →

Sponsors

Chicago Educators for Palestine

DropTheADL from Schools

Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism

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

Education Justice

5:00pm CDT

When Socialists Turned to the Factory Floor

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

Superior

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 Cohn

Candace Cohn and Jack Weinberg were members of the International Socialists in the steel industry during the 1970s. Candace Cohn was one of the first women accepted into the carpenters' union and one of the first women to enter the steel mills in the 1970s. She became a labor... Read More →

Jack Weinberg

Jack Weinberg, a leading figure in the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley and a founding member of the IS, worked in auto in Detroit and then in steel in Gary, Indiana. Since the 1980s he has been active around environmental and health issues.

Sponsors

Solidarity

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

Radical History

10:00am CDT

The Old Being Reborn: The Revival of Socialist Organizations in US and Belgium

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

Superior

What is the throughline between the Belgian Worker’s party and the Democratic Socialists of America? British socialist, Joe Todd and DSA member David Duhalde will examine the new DSA and Belgian Workers Party's structures over the past decade, their developments and differences. This panel will reflect on the historical labor, electoral, and factional dynamics, of the Socialist party that have led us to today.

Speakers

David Duhalde

David Duhalde is a lifelong democratic socialist organizer who has held positions in both the Democratic Socialist of America and its sister nonprofit the DSA Fund at the staff and volunteer leadership levels. He is an author on numerous topics including DSA history, which have appeared... Read More →

Joe Todd

Joe Todd is a researcher, organiser and political strategist. He writes on left parties for the Guardian, Novara Media and his Substack, and co-hosts the top 50 UK podcast Life of the Party. He is the author of "Between Autonomy and Control," a comparative study of the Belgian Workers... Read More →

Sponsors

RLS

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

International Politics

12:00pm CDT

The Present State of People’s History

Sunday September 6, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT

Superior

This panel will present on the historiography of “people’s history” and the landscape of contemporary projects (outside of the academy) dedicated to documenting specific movement history and regional radical histories. The members of the panel will be drawn from a nascent group, the People’s History Network, that has started to take shape over the last several months to promote and expand the documentation of the history of the left. Our panel will explore the various methodologies at work in distinct recent projects of left public history, and will draw lessons from practical comparisons.

Speakers

Isaac Silver

Isaac Silver is a socialist activist and independent archivist/historian based in Chicago.

Peter Cole

Matthew Ray

Sponsors

Left in the Bay

Sunday September 6, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT
Superior

Radical History

3:00pm CDT

Inquilab Zindabad: Bhagat Singh and the Revolutionary Left during South Asian Independence

Sunday September 6, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT

Superior

Mainstream narratives of the South Asian independence movement often erase radical figures like Bhagat Singh, who articulated critiques of colonialism, capitalism, and religion, and was unafraid to embrace a diversity of tactics - including “violent” struggle. This session will shine light on his underappreciated history, and why it still matters today.

Speakers

Viral Mistry

Sunday September 6, 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
Superior

International Politics

6:30pm CDT

Firebrands: the Organizing RPG | Actual Play Session!

Sunday September 6, 2026 6:30pm - 9:30pm CDT

Superior

Our kingdom is plagued by dragons, monsters, and the greatest threat of all: multinational corporations crushing workers for profit!

Come play or watch Firebrands: BloomQuest, a homebrew D&D one-shot campaign. 5 player spots - first come, first served!

Firebrands is a TTRPG system that teaches people how to organize. Help us bring Firebrands to life by joining our mailing list: firebrandsrpg.com

Sunday September 6, 2026 6:30pm - 9:30pm CDT
Superior

Activity

10:00am CDT

A Shit Deal: Capitalism's Ecological Rift

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

Superior

The capitalist State has long been propped up by its capacity to compensate for wanton ecological degradation at home and abroad. No historical period illustrates this better than the nineteenth century Peruvian guano trade, as Europe's extractive agricultural practices threatened soil ecology, fueling their imperialist grip on the southern hemisphere.

Speakers

T Callahan

T Callahan is a freelance science writer based in Chicago and author of The Stranded Asset on Substack. An editor of the forthcoming third edition of the Ecological Economics textbook and passionate advocate for eco-socialism, T strives to reveal capital's root-level complicity and... Read More →

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

Climate Justice

2:30pm CDT

4:30pm CDT

3:00pm CDT

5:00pm CDT

10:00am CDT

12:00pm CDT

3:00pm CDT

6:30pm CDT

10:00am CDT

Get help with the event