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Who We Are
The Socialist Party of Boston is the Boston-area local of the Socialist Party USA, the successor to Eugene Debs's and Norman Thomas's Socialist Party of America. We are a democratic socialist, feminist, anti-racist party, and we strive to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control.
Socialism is not mere government ownership; it is not a welfare state; it is not a repressive bureaucracy. Socialism is a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers control production and community residents control their neighborhoods, homes, and schools. The production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. Socialism produces a constantly renewed future by not plundering the resources of the earth.
Radical democracy is the cornerstone not only of our socialism, but also of our strategy. A society based on radical democracy, with power exercised through people's organizations, requires a socialist transformation from below. People's organizations cannot be created by legislation, nor can they spring into being only on the eve of a revolution. Our tactics in the struggle for radical democratic change reflect our ultimate goal of a society founded on principles of egalitarian, non-exploitative and non-violent relations among all people and between all peoples.
Our aim is the creation of a new social order, a society in which the commanding value is the infinite preciousness of every woman, man and child.
You can learn more by reading the Socialist Party's Statement of Principles. If you agree with our principles, we encourage you to get involved and join the Socialist Party today. For more information, feel free to contact us at
- Socialist Party of Boston
- PO Box 15342
- Boston, MA 02215
or by sending an email to "spboston (at) spboston (dot) org".
Events
For a more complete list of upcoming events in Boston, check out our current events listing.
6/29: June Local Meeting
The Socialist Party of Boston met at noon on Sunday, 29 June 2008 at the Lucy Parsons Center. Since this meeting took place in the middle of the National Assembly, we just held a very informal discussion about recent and upcoming events. For more information, check out the full minutes.
7/4: Anti-Imperialist Fourth of July
Don't let fourth of July jingoism get you down! Join us to build world peace and celebrate independence for all nations with an anti-imperialist fourth of July picnic hosted by the Socialist Party of Massachusetts.
Comrades from across Massachusetts and New England will converge on the Charles River Reservation in Boston on Friday, 4 July, 12-4 pm, to celebrate the anti-imperialist legacy of the Fourth of July and enjoy food and fun in good company.
Bring some food to share, and we'll provide the charcoal, burgers (veggie and otherwise), frisbees, and Wobbly song books. No stars and stripes, please.
The Charles River Reservation is located off Soldiers Field Road past Elliot Bridge (coming from Boston), near Harvard Stadium. Look for a parking lot, picnic area, and kayak rental kiosk. Call 248/303-3785 if you have trouble finding us. Download the flyer here.
7/4: DMZ -- Boston De-Militarized Zone
Join the Socialist Party and the Stop the Wars Coalition every Friday, 6-8 pm at the corner of Mass Ave. and Boylston St., to establish a De-Militarized Zone where all those who wish can congregate to denigrate and repudiate the war machine and celebrate the movement against war and oppression.
Bring your signs and minds, ready to chalk, talk, play music, paint art, and sing leftist songs with caring and sharing, in unity declaring that we are "chilling against the villins" in this zone to show our independence from the state.
7/11-7/13: Socialist Party National Organizing Conference
Join the Socialist Party in Ann Arbor, MI, this summer, four our bienniel National Organizing Conference. With a plenary panel on "Organizing for Socialism in an Election Year: Supporting Our Candidates, Building the Movement" featuring SP Presidential nominee Brian Moore, and a wide variety of other workshops and presentations, it promises to be an event to remember.
You can find information about registration, travel, lodging, scheduling, and more at the National Conference Web site. Although the official deadline has passed, some travel support may still be available. Email spboston (at) spboston (dot) org more information.
7/27: July Local Meeting
The Socialist Party of Boston will meet at noon on Sunday, 27 July 2008 in the Lucy Parsons Center. We are approaching several critical deadlines related to electoral campaigns, so much of the meeting may focus on those issues. Also approaching are the upcoming antiwar demonstration on 11 October, and the Bread and Roses festival in Lawrence in September. For more information, check out the preliminary agenda.
The Lucy Parsons Center is located at 549 Columbus Ave. in the South End, near the Mass Ave. T stop on the Orange Line, the Symphony T stop on the Green Line (E), and the #1 bus line.
Books and literature
The Socialist Party of Boston has a small library of radical books for sale, listed here. We're offering each of them for $5, well below the cover price. To order, or for more information, email us at "spboston (at) spboston (dot) org" or stop by an upcoming meeting or event.
We have a wide variety of literature outlining our past, present, principles and positions, available for free online. This includes
- Pamphlets and statements.
- Socialism as Radical Democracy, the Statement of Principles of the Socialist Party USA.
- "You Don't Have to be a Saint to be a Socialist", a primer on democratic socialism.
- A Century of Struggle, History of the Socialist Party USA, 1901-2007.
- Socialist Party USA: Who We Are, Where We Stand.
- A Lot of What's Best About America is Socialist! Don't believe it? Take a look.
- Democratic Socialism, the way to jobs, peace and freedom.
- International Women's Day, our day of empowerment, resistance, and celebration.
- May Day Greetings, a joint statement by Rune Lund, a Member of the Danish Parliament representing the Red-Green Alliance and Eric Chester, Convener of the International Commission of the Socialist Party USA.
- Recent back issues of our magazines, The Socialist and Socialist Women.
- The Socialist, May Day 2008.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2008.
- The Socialist, Year-end 2007.
- Socialist Women, Fall 2007.
- The Socialist, Fall 2007.
- Socialist Women, Summer 2007.
- The Socialist, May Day 2007.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2007.
- Socialist Women, Fall 2006.
- The Socialist, Fall 2006.
- Socialist Women, Summer 2006.
- The Socialist, May Day 2006.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2006.
- Issues of our bimonthly Boston bulletin, with brief announcements of news and events.
- Volume 3, Number 3, June-July 2008.
- Volume 3, Number 2, April-May 2008.
- Volume 3, Number 1, February-March 2008.
- Volume 2, Number 6, December 2007-January 2008.
- Volume 2, Number 5, October-November 2007.
- Volume 2, Number 4, August-September 2007.
- Volume 2, Number 3, June-July 2007.
- Volume 2, Number 2, April-May 2007.
- Volume 2, Number 1, February-March 2007.
- Volume 1, Number 1, December 2006-January 2007.
Recent Statements
Statement on Bolivia
- 5 June 2008
- Socialist Party International Commission
The Socialist Party USA expresses its solidarity with the workers, campesinos and indigenous communities of Bolivia who are struggling to create a new vibrant socialist project in their country. The possibilities of achieving such a goal were greatly accelerated by the election in 2005 of the government of Evo Morales, representative of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. Now, two years into Morales' first term, the MAS government faces serious challenges from the right delivered in the form of a movement for "autonomy" coming from a bastion of the old oligarchy in Santa Cruz. The historical legacy and theoretical traditions of socialism make it difficult to publicly declare opposition to a genuine movement for autonomy expressed by a nationally-oppressed group. We re-affirm the notion that oppressed groups, minority or majority, have, when facing oppression by a state apparatus be it capitalist or ostensibly communist, the right to self-determination. For example, claims by Aymara communities in the north of Bolivia prior to the election of the MAS government were clearly just demands for the liberation of a majority grouping from the shackles of a political economy directed by a thin layer of capitalist elite taking direction from the IMF/World Bank. The above definition has little to do with the current crisis in Santa Cruz... read more.
Child Care as a Social Justice Issue
- 11 April 2008
- Socialist Party Women's Commission
For many women these days, child care is a major issue. As parents, they face formidable, sometimes insurmountable, hurdles trying to find affordable, high-quality care for our young children. As child care workers, they commit themselves to a career characterized by low status, low pay, and insufficient benefits. This should not come as a startling revelation, since an abundance of documentation exists on both these issues. In fact, the solution is also clear: uniting for quality child care means linking affordability and accessibility to the right of child care workers to good wages, benefits, and working conditions; it means expanding the struggle for quality child care to include the quality of the program, the quality of the workplace, and the quality of society as a whole. Demands and action must occur in all these areas if our communities are ever to create and maintain a just, equitable, and compassionate child care system... read more.
Statement on Tibet
- 26 March 2008
- Socialist Party International Commission
The unfolding events in Tibet are a tragedy. The Chinese government has occupied Tibet for more than fifty years, using every conceivable method to incorporate the occupied territory into an integral part of China. Tibetan cultural and religious sites have been desecrated and Buddhist monks have been forced to sign a pledge of allegiance to China. In its desire to extract the valuable natural resources of Tibet, the Chinese government has ignored essential environmental safeguards... read more.
Links
Our affiliates are:
- Socialist Party USA, the national organization (MySpace, Facebook)
- Socialist National Committee, the SP's electoral arm
- Young People's Socialist League, autonomous youth affiliate
- Socialist Party of Massachusetts (MySpace)
More links can be found here.