When is it Democratic Socialism?
What is Democratic Socialism? What makes it different than Socialism, Communism, Marxism or Social Democracy? As self-described democratic socialists, like Mayor Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring the term to the mainstream, it felt like a good moment to dive into the history of the term, and to explore the central tension to be found in any social democratic movement: reform or revolution?
00:44 Manifesto for 1848
40:13 Interlude: Inevitability
01:29:15 The SPD's Orthodoxy
02:27:23 Revisionism
02:56:54 Reform or Revolution
03:22:50 Social Democracy vs Democratic Socialism
04:03:18 Defining the 'types'
Sourcing
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Modern/Critique:
Brooks, David. 2026. Democrats Became Great by Fighting the Left.
Flynn, Daniel J. 2008. _A Conservative History of the American Left_.
Fortgang, Tal. 2026. Radicals Are at the Door.
Sunkara, Bhaskar. 2019. The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.
Michael Harrington. American activist and author by Markku Ruotsila. Britannica Editors
Misc:
The Erfurt Program 1891. Translated: by Thomas Dunlap
& Das Erfurter Programm (1891)
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