Confronting Capitalism: Understanding DSA’s Rise

Over the past decade, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has moved from an obscure Cold War holdover to one of the most impactful organizations in US politics. But even with continued electoral success, are they at risk of stalling out?

On this latest episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber discusses the rise of DSA with Paul Heideman, author of the new Catalyst essay, “Where is DSA Going?” Vivek and Paul look at the membership’s class interests and geographic concentration to get a sense of the organization’s relative strength and longevity.

Read Paul’s article here: https://catalyst-journal.com/2026/09/where-is-dsa-going

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Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.