Anything-and-Everything Socialism
Anything-and-Everything Socialism Protest signs created by the Democratic Socialists of America at Union Square during May Day demonstrations 1st May, 2018. Photo: Taidgh Barron/Alamy Identity politics redirects radical energy away from the elites who promote it—a point illustrated by the 2022 Socialism Conference with rare clarity. Sohale Andrus Mortazavi The 2022 Socialism Conference in Chicago earlier this month felt more like an academic conference than, as the promotional materials pronounced, “a place where activists can share lessons from their struggles.” Attendees paid $150 for full-price passes granting access to four days of panels, talks, and social events for professional schmoozing at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotel and convention center in Chicago’s swank South Loop neighborhood. Panels hosted academics and writers plugging and signing books that could be purchased at the conference book fair. Keynote speakers gave the kind of rousing and impassioned prewrit...
