What we’re about
Welcome to the online home of the Metro DC (DC/MD/Northern VA) Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)!
The DSA is the largest and fastest growing socialist organization in the United States. We believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. DSA's members are building movements for social and economic justice while fighting for change in our communities and workplaces.
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Not a member yet? Join here! DSA is a democratic, grassroots, and member funded organization and we need people power to fight for the future we deserve. Join today!
Inquiries: media@mdcdsa.org
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Why You Should Join DSA: New Member OrientationLink visible for attendees
Curious about DSA? Thinking about joining but want to hear more info first? Attended a few of our events already and ready become a member? Already a member and want to get more involved?
If so, this event is for you!
You'll learn about DSA, what we do, and how you can get involved in the fight for a brighter future. We'll outline our chapter's structure and our campaigns, working groups, and branches. Our chapter covers the DMV area, including the district, Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County and Prince George's County in Maryland.
Please RSVP on Action Network to obtain the meeting link.
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This event is open to both DSA Members and supporters.
Not a Member? Please consider becoming a Member. Fees are on a sliding scale according to what you feel you can afford.
- Legal Plunder Socialist Night SchoolMartin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, DC
Alongside the rise of mass incarceration, a second profound and equally disturbing development has transpired. Since the 1980s, US policing and punishment have been remade into tools for stripping resources from the nation’s most oppressed communities and turning them into public and private revenues. In their new book, Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice, Joshua Page and Joe Soss analyze this development’s origins, operations, consequences, and the political struggles that it has created.
Drawing on historical and contemporary evidence, including original ethnographic research, Page and Soss examine the predatory dimensions of criminal legal governance to show how practices that criminalize, police, and punish have been retrofitted to siphon resources from subordinated groups, subsidize governments, and generate corporate profits. As tax burdens have declined for the affluent, this financial extraction—now a core function of the country’s sprawling criminal legal apparatus—further compounds race, class, and gender inequalities and injustices. Legal Plunder shows that we can no longer afford to overlook legal plunder or the efforts to dismantle it.
In our next Socialist Night School, Page and Soss join us for a discussion of Legal Plunder.
Joshua Page is the Beverly and Richard Fink Professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of The Toughest Beat: Politics, Punishment, and the Prison Officer Unions in California and coauthor of Breaking the Pendulum: The Long Struggle over Criminal Justice.
Joe Soss is the Cowles Professor for the Study of Public Service in the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
Please RSVP on Action Network to receive further updates on this event.
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This event is open to both DSA Members and supporters.
Not a Member? Please consider becoming a Member. Fees are on a sliding scale according to what you feel you can afford.
