The Event
Socialism 2018
The Purpose
It's an event held every year by ISO. It was my first time attending, but it seemed to be for connecting socialists from around the globe, educating attendants, and facilitating discussion.
Leadership
The event was put on by ISO, with some sessions jointly presented by DSA.
When and Where
July 5th-8th in Chicago, IL
Why we Participated
It was a good opportunity to meet other DSA comrades from around the country, and to get to know ISO and what they are about. The conference itself offered many sessions with lecturers covering a variety of socialist topics, so it seemed like a good way to get exposure to different ideas.
Comments
From an educational standpoint I found it worthwhile. Most of the sessions I attended were informative, and I learned a lot over the four days. One thing I especially liked was a bookstore set up in one of the rooms by Haymarket Books. I didn't expect to come home with so many books!
The two sessions that were highlights for me both dealt with the failure of revolutionaries to engage with electoral politics in two historical worker uprisings, Paris 1968 and the Spanish Civil War in the early 1900s. I did find in talking to several ISO members that they seem to take a pretty dim view of electoral politics, so that was a point of contention in some of the discussions I found myself in.