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Who We Are
The Socialist Party of Boston is the Boston-area local of the Socialist Party USA, a democratic socialist, feminist, anti-racist party. We strive to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control.
Socialism is not mere government ownership; it is not a welfare state; it is not a repressive bureaucracy. Socialism is a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers control production and community residents control their neighborhoods, homes, and schools. The production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. Socialism produces a constantly renewed future by not plundering the resources of the earth.
Radical democracy is the cornerstone not only of our socialism, but also of our strategy. A society based on radical democracy, with power exercised through people's organizations, requires a socialist transformation from below. People's organizations cannot be created by legislation, nor can they spring into being only on the eve of a revolution. Our tactics in the struggle for radical democratic change reflect our ultimate goal of a society founded on principles of egalitarian, non-exploitative and non-violent relations among all people and between all peoples.
Our aim is the creation of a new social order, a society in which the commanding value is the infinite preciousness of every woman, man and child.
You can learn more by reading our Statement of Principles or Organizing Framework. If you agree with our principles, we encourage you to get involved and join the Socialist Party today. For more information, feel free to contact us at
- Socialist Party of Boston
- PO Box 15342
- Boston, MA 02215
- 617-275-2525
- spboston (at) spboston (dot) org
Events
- Find notices of many more events at our calendar.
9/6: Bread and Roses Festival
Join us in Lawrence for Labor Day at the Bread and Roses Festival!
9/8: Boston May Day Committee Meeting
Help the Boston May Day Committee keep active even after May Day. It is critical to maintain year-round activity in the movement for workers rights and solidarity without borders.
Join us at 7 pm in Encuentro 5 (33 Harrison Ave., fifth floor, by the Chinatown stop on the Orange Line T).
9/8: Socializing for Socialism
Join Boston-area socialists and supporters for an informal get-together on the second Wednesday evening of each month. This is a relaxed and fun opportunity to meet up for drinks, food and conversation, so stop by and bring your friends.
We'll head out after the May Day Committee meeting, which will be held at 7 pm in Encuentro5 (33 Harrison Ave., fifth floor, by the Chinatown T stop on the Orange Line). After the meeting we will head to the Otherside Cafe (207 Newbury St.) for drinks, food and conversation. We generally arrive between 9:00-9:30 pm.
9/19: Local Business Meeting
The Socialist Party will meet at 5:30 pm on Sunday, 19 September 2010 in the Lucy Parsons Center. Preliminary agenda.
Members, supporters, and the curious are all invited to attend.
The Lucy Parsons Center is located at 549 Columbus Ave. in the South End, near the Mass Ave. T stop on the Orange Line, the Symphony T stop on the Green Line (E), and the #1 bus line.
9/29: International General Strike Solidarity
An international general strike will be held in Europe on 29 September. Such militant action by the working class of Europe is without precedent in recent history and deserves our attention and solidarity.
Here in Boston, we are calling for a protest outside the statehouse with a similar message: No to budget cuts! No austerity! Global capitalism is not working! So far the struggle in defense of jobs and social services against budget cuts has been set in the context of Massachusetts politics. We have a responsibility to expand that perspective to the international scene.
Recent Statements
BP Oil Spill a Crime not a Disaster
- 9 May 2010
- Socialist Party USA
Language matters, especially at times of crisis. The explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig that released hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been called a “disaster” by many. It isn’t a disaster. It is a crime. Early estimates are that the spill will cost more than $14 billion to clean, will devastate local fisheries for generations and will result in untold damage to all parts of the ecology in the Gulf region. Corporations are the criminals here - British Petroleum (BP) and, a company that is no stranger to corporate crime, Halliburton. This massive spill highlights both the need for an immediate transition to clean energy sources and the need to apply democratic controls to inherently criminal multinational corporations... read more.
May Day -- Our Day
- April 2010
- Socialist Party USA
Socialism -- An Idea Whose Time Has Come!
"Ideas", someone once wrote, "move rapidly when their time comes." As we gather to celebrate May Day, the continuing capitalist crisis makes socialism an idea ready to move rapidly. While the banks have received trillion dollar bailouts, working people still face mass unemployment, state and local budget cuts and deepening personal debt. Capitalist crisis has made the socialist vision of a world where human needs are put ahead of individual profits even more relevant. Our task on May Day is to convert socialism from a good idea into a movement to transform our society.
Capitalism Exposed
The recent economic crisis was more than a banking crisis or a housing price bubble... read more.
Repeal Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law
- 29 April 2010
- Socialist Party People of Color Commission
- ¡No somos criminales, somos trabajadores internacionales!
- ¡Que viva la justicia y la dignidad de los migrantes unidos sin fronteras!
The Socialist Party USA calls for the immediate repeal of the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" (SB 1070) in Arizona. This law sanctions racial profiling and gives cover to the repressive actions of officials such as the racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Further, we call for an immediate moratorium on all police raids of immigrant communities; we demand the closure of the immigrant detention camps and an end to the militarization of the US-Mexico border.
Arizona has become the epicenter of struggle for the rights of immigrants... read more.
Books and literature
The Socialist Party of Boston has a small library of radical books for sale, all well below the cover price.
We have a wide variety of literature outlining our past, present, principles and positions, available for free online. This includes
- Pamphlets and statements.
- Socialism as Radical Democracy, the Statement of Principles of the Socialist Party USA.
- "You Don't Have to be a Saint to be a Socialist", a primer on democratic socialism.
- A Century of Struggle, History of the Socialist Party USA, 1901-2007.
- Socialist Party USA: Who We Are, Where We Stand.
- A Lot of What's Best About America is Socialist! Don't believe it? Take a look.
- Democratic Socialism, the way to jobs, peace and freedom.
- International Women's Day, our day of empowerment, resistance, and celebration.
- May Day Greetings, a joint statement by Rune Lund, a Member of the Danish Parliament representing the Red-Green Alliance and Eric Chester, Convener of the International Commission of the Socialist Party USA.
- Recent back issues of our magazines, The Socialist and Socialist Women. An electronic edition of the magazine, The Socialist WebZine, was founded in October 2008.
- The Socialist, January-February 2010 (now available in print).
- The Socialist, November-December 2009 (available online soon).
- Socialist Women, September-October 2009.
- The Socialist, July-August 2009.
- The Socialist, May-June 2009.
- Socialist Women, March-April 2009.
- The Socialist, January-February 2009.
- The Socialist, November-December 2008.
- Socialist Women, Fall 2008.
- The Socialist, Summer 2008.
- The Socialist, May Day 2008.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2008.
- The Socialist, Year-end 2007.
- Socialist Women, Fall 2007.
- The Socialist, Fall 2007.
- Socialist Women, Summer 2007.
- The Socialist, May Day 2007.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2007.
- Socialist Women, Fall 2006.
- The Socialist, Fall 2006.
- Socialist Women, Summer 2006.
- The Socialist, May Day 2006.
- The Socialist, International Women's Day 2006.
- Our bimonthly Boston bulletin, with brief announcements of news and events
Links
- Socialist Party USA, the national organization (MySpace, Facebook)
- Socialist National Committee, the SP's electoral arm
- Young People's Socialist League, autonomous youth affiliate
- Socialist Party of Massachusetts (MySpace)
More links can be found here.