Fragmented Solidarity: Post-Fordist Organized Labor and “the Political Revolution”

In the United States, many might claim that organized labor is “dead” and workers possess little to no political pull. When looking at the current neoliberal political economic conjuncture and the obvious decline in the power of the labor movement, this is true to a certain degree. Post-Fordist economic conditions have had significant consequences for the labor market and weakened the ability of labor unions to organize and fight for gains. In the Capital Region of New York state, one of the hearts of the so-called “Rust Belt,” evidence of capital prevailing over labor is highly visible in the absence and decay of industry that the region once held. However, if the 2016 Presidential Election taught the U.S. public anything, it is that political mobilization on the basis of economic issues is still very much alive. The electoral victory of Donald Trump leaves much to be questioned from the American left and the Democratic Party in regards to their politics vis-a-vis labor. What made working class communities across the Rust Belt turn to a vulgar, far-right businessman like Trump? In this thesis, I explore the politics of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), an umbrella organization with ties to the Democratic Party. I will argue that the DSA has the potential to house the voices of the “new” and “old” working class in the capital region. Although supporting labor is a priority nationally and locally for the DSA, their methodology and ideology regarding political action resembles what scholars describe as a “new social movement” which made creating connections with labor difficult. How does DSA’s Albany chapter politics and activism influence (or not influence) the older Fordist labor imagination and vice-versa?