The Call Radio

The Call
The Call Radio

The Call is a publication founded to advance the political outlook of a group of members in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We are Marxists who believe in a democratic road to socialism. We want to build DSA into a mass organization that can help revitalize working-class politics and lay the groundwork for a new socialist party in the future. Through The Call Radio we'll be sharing important lectures and speeches on Marxist politics and history. If you have questions or comments please email us at editor [a] socialistcall [dot] com.

Episodes

  1. 10/08/2018

    Episode 1.3 — Vivek Chibber on Collective Action

    This is the last in a series of three lectures, presented by The Call, on the fundamentals of Marxist politics by Vivek Chibber. In this concluding lecture, Chibber turns to a discussion of class struggle. Marx predicted that the working class would overthrow the capitalist system in short order, but the last century has confirmed that the capitalist system is far more stable than many Marxists expected. If this is true, how useful is Marx’s theory of class struggle? Chibber proposes two options. Either Marx’s theory was flawed, or he made the wrong predictions from the correct theory. Chibber argues for option two, that Marx’s error was not his analysis of capitalism, but an underestimation of the difficulty of organizing workers in the face of the concentrated power of the capitalist class. We also know that there have been successful class struggles. From this starting point, Chibber pursues a few critical questions. Why is it so hard for workers to organize themselves, especially as compared to the capitalist class? If the working class has so little power, how is it that movements ever succeed? And knowing that movements of the working class will always be difficult to construct and maintain, what social, political, and economic conditions will put these movements in the best position to claim lasting victories? Please enjoy these lectures, and also be sure to check out The Call at socialistcall.com.

    1 hr
  2. 10/08/2018

    Episode 2.4 — Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions, Part 4

    This is the last in a series of four lectures, presented by The Call, which we’re titling “Farrell Dobbs: Lessons from the Teamster Rebellions.” In this lecture, socialist labor organizer Farrell Dobbs describes the years of heightened labor struggle before, during, and after World War II. He finishes by bringing listeners up to the present day, which was 1964, discussing the Cold War, the wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Civil Rights movement. Many leaders of Teamsters Local 574, now called Local 544, were imprisoned at the start of the war. This was part of an all-out assault led by the combined forces of Teamsters international president Tobin, the trucking bosses, a new Red Scare, and the federal government. After the war, a massive strike wave swept the country. At the height of the wave in early 1946, two million workers were out on strike at one time. Ultimately, the employers were successful, and passed the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. But the 1945 and 46 strike wave demonstrated for Dobbs that there is no crisis in the capacity of the working class to struggle. Instead, he tells us, there is only a crisis of leadership in the labor movement — one which can be overcome by militant, class-struggle unionism led by socialists and rank-and-file workers. Please enjoy these lectures, and also be sure to check out The Call at socialistcall.com. Thanks to the Holt Labor Library — HLL.org, and the Marxist Internet Archive — marxists.org.

    2h 2m

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

The Call is a publication founded to advance the political outlook of a group of members in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We are Marxists who believe in a democratic road to socialism. We want to build DSA into a mass organization that can help revitalize working-class politics and lay the groundwork for a new socialist party in the future. Through The Call Radio we'll be sharing important lectures and speeches on Marxist politics and history. If you have questions or comments please email us at editor [a] socialistcall [dot] com.

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