Update from the Young Democratic Socialists

1) END OF SEMESTER CHECK-LIST & SUMMER ORGANIZING PLANS
For some of you, this is the last week of classes.  Others have a few to go before the semester lets out.  It's always important with student activism to carry momentum through the summer break.  What follows is a check list of items to consider before your pack up your books, head home and lose the opportunity to meet face-to-face with other YDSers on your campus:

CONTACT INFO: Make sure you have the summer contact information (including email and telephone) for everyone in your group, including those you hope will be involved in the YDS chapter at your school come next fall.  Please send us this contact info so we can keep our records up to date, and can follow up with folks about our summer and fall activities.

YDS SUMMER CONFERENCE: Make plans to attend YDS' summer national conference and activist retreat in NYC!   You can expect a fun, informative, and empowering weekend gathering from Aug. 11-13) before the fall semester begins.  Get commitments from people to attend.  See if you can raise funds from your school to help offset travel costs (ask if you need help with this!).  Flyers available here: www.ydsusa.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/yds_summer_conference2.pdf

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF SOCIALIST YOUTH WORLD FESTIVAL: The 2006 IUSY World Festival will bring together over 7000 young left-wing activists from over 100 countries to Alicante, Spain (July 18-23).  YDS is organizing the U.S. delegation... so contact us ASAP if you are interested in attending.  It is urgent that you petition your SGA's for funding if you can not afford travel expenses.  Flyers, other fundraising tips and more info available on the YDS website: www.ydsusa.org

COORDINATING COMMITTEE: At the annual summer conferences, YDS elects a new Coordinating Committee (CC) that provides political leadership and logistical support for the organization.  Please consider running yourself or identifying others in your chapter who could run for office.  We encourage those who plan on running to attend the summer conference, though you can also run in abstentia.  CC positions are open to all YDS members, including those not currently in chapters.

YDS INTERNSHIPS: It's not too late to apply!  Click here for info about YDS internships this summer: www.ydsusa.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/YDS%20internships.pdf

ORGANIZING PLAN: If you are involved in a YDS chapter or organizing committee, please draft an overview of how your group is doing, what you've accomplished, any problems you might have run into, what you hope to do in the future, and how national YDS can support your efforts.  We hope to work with you over the summer to gear up for the fall semester.  We'll also be developing new literature and additional campaign materials.  If there are resources you would like to see YDS create or you would like to offer to help develop them yourself, please let us know.


2) JOIN YDS THIS SATURDAY IN NYC: MARCH FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY! Some varieties of democratic socialism place a heavy emphasis (and great expectations) on cooperative enterprises. One of the examples frequently used is the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation in the Basque regions of Spain. There's much to admire about its performance and its history, especially since Mondragon was founded during the dark years of Franco's rule. A good introduction to the Mondragon Cooperative can be found at Chicago¹s Center for Labor and Community Research web site: www.clcr.org/publications/html/Mondragon%20paper%20by%20freundlich1198.htm

A more critical appraisal can be found at the Center for Global Justice: "Cooperativization on the Mondragon Model as Alternative to Globalizing Capitalism" by Betsy Bowman and Bob Stone: www.globaljusticecenter.org/papers/bowstone.htm

Part of the fascination with Mondragon is a result of how it combines appropriately small enterprise with an institution the size of a modest multinational corporation. But some countries have succeeded in establishing local economies dominated by a multitude of small cooperative enterprises. For a look at the Po Valley in Italy back in 2003, see "Model of Economic Democracy" by Bob Williams: www.commonground.ca/iss/0306143/coop.shtml

Italy, it should be noted, is not the only European country with a large cooperative sector. The "social economy" varies from country to country, but in some (Austria for example) it's quite large.

Of course, members of the Mondragon cooperative are always a bit bemused by all this lefty attention. The ideological parents of the institution are more Basque nationalism and Catholic social justice theology. And indeed, cooperatives in the United States also have varied ideological backgrounds. In the 19th Century, for example, the labor movement was very active in organizing coops from a non-marxist "labor republicanism" perspective. They objected to the very idea of workers being "employees" rather than independent craftsmen that presumably form one of the foundations of the American republic. Coops were an attempt to preserve the dignity of the independent laborer. A bit later, coops occupied the attention of the Populist movement as a way of cutting out the middleman between producers and consumers.

One of the places to find out about cooperatives in the United States today is the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives: www.wisc.edu/uwcc/index.html

The Center for Cooperatives also hosts the International Cooperative Information Center: www.wisc.edu/uwcc/icic/

October, you may not know, is "Coop Month". There are still a few months to go, but the information from October, 2005, provides a good look at the state of cooperative economy in the United States at the "Coop Month" web site: www.co-opmonth.org/index.html


7) LATEST DEMOCRATIC LEFT ON-LINE
The Spring 2006 issue of Democratic Left is now online.  Click here for the PDF: www.dsausa.org/dl/Spring_2006.pdf






JOIN YDS! 
It's easy, it's cheap, and it connects you with other democratic socialist activists around the country.  Click here to read more about why you should consider joining: www.ydsusa.org/getinvolved.html

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