By a Comrade This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. Welcome to Vol. 6 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps … Continue reading Monthly Round-Up – January 2026
by Bobby Gronert and Wesley Hoy Comrades of UW-Madison YDSA and Madison-Area DSA, As we approach one of the biggest decisions in the history of Madison-Area DSA and UW-Madison YDSA, we want to share our thoughts on the question of endorsing Francesca Hong. This question comes at a time of crisis. Wealth continues to accumulate in the hands of those who already have it, as life gets worse for those destitute and barely getting by. No longer able to satisfy our bloodlust purely overseas, Nazi admirers have been armed by the state and sent to walk our streets; “a force … Continue reading Bobby Gronert: Why MADSA should endorse Francesca Hong for Governor
by Kristen B. In December 2025, MADSA was visited by Peter B., a Brazilian socialist member of PSOL (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade/Socialism and Liberty Party). Peter has been living in New York for the past year and paid a visit to Madison, Wisconsin, as part of his effort to promote the First International Antifascism Conference, being held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from March 26-29, 2026. This conference is being organized by his party, PSOL, as well as PT (Worker’s Party; party of current president Lula da Silva) and PC do B (Communist Party of Brazil). Peter has been an active … Continue reading Member of PSOL in Brazil Visits Madison DSA
By a Comrade This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. Welcome to Vol. 5 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/ MADSA Adds a New Branch The chapter reported at our December General Membership Meeting that MADSA has nearly doubled in size since October 2024 – from 368 members then, to 643 members now! In … Continue reading Monthly Round-Up – December 2025
By Halsey H. The past decade of the Democratic Socialists of America has been defined by shockingly successful moonshot campaigns that catapulted socialism into national conversation, leaving organizers scrambling to meet the moment without sacrificing their principles. First, we had Bernie’s 2016 presidential campaign and its 2020 encore, and then just a few months ago, Zohran Mamdani shattered expectations with his election as mayor of New York City. Now, it might be Wisconsin’s turn: MADSA member and State Rep. Francesca Hong announced her bid for Governor at our September General Meeting. Since then, there has been widespread debate in the … Continue reading Can MADSA Make Better Possible? Francesca Hong and Madison Area DSA’s Electoral Strategy
by Dan F There have been some differences of opinion in MADSA about decision making, meetings, and in general how we organize over the past few years. And contention has often arisen around bylaw changes. Here are some of my migraine-addled opinions on why this is happening. Two examples of contention First, in the 2025 convention there was a bylaw change proposed to make working groups accountable to a SMART goal-based structure. In the introduction, the intent was written as about “democracy, accountability, and transparency”, and about improving communication between working groups and the general membership. However, as written, the … Continue reading Democracy: On meetings and voting
By a Comrade This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. Welcome to Vol. 4 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/ Behind-the-Scenes in a Growing Org Over the past year, the DSA has had a huge boom in membership nationally, a surge in membership here in Madison, and an increase in name recognition after Zohran … Continue reading Monthly Round-Up – November 2025
By Blair Goodman — Political Education Working Group, Madison DSA Madison, right now Across Dane County, our campaigns against jail expansion, corporate developers, and layoffs at TruStage all run into the same brick wall: a system that divides and disciplines labor along racial lines. Anti-Black racism isn’t an add-on to class struggle—it’s a core method by which exploitation keeps reproducing itself. This piece offers a framework for connecting those dots in our local work. 1) Capitalism’s birth in racial slavery Modern capitalism was built through dispossession and enslavement—the twin thefts of land and labor. Plantations were early financial instruments linking … Continue reading The Peculiar and Continuing Importance of Anti-Black Racism in the U.S.
By a Comrade This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. Welcome to Vol. 3 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/ Union Efforts Continue in Madison In August we celebrated the successful union elections at Festival Foods, and Hilton Monona Terrace. Another union battle continues in Madison, however, led by healthcare workers at GHC, and … Continue reading Monthly Round-Up – October 2025
by Blair Goodman Purpose and Use This is a training and reference guide (or maybe just a vision) for developing cadres—members who form the committed core of an organization. It helps participants understand both the skills and the culture needed to sustain effective socialist organizing. What is a Cadre? “I liked doing it, Mac. I don’t know why. It seemed a good thing to be doing. It seemed to have meaning. Nothing I ever did before had any meaning.” — John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle In political organizing, cadre refers to the trained, committed core of activists who form an … Continue reading Cadre Development
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