The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics

by Raina Lipsitz

The first book taking stock of a new left generation.

A new progressive generation is on the rise in the United States, reflected in the mushrooming rolls of the Democratic Socialists of America (90,000 mostly twentysomething members), Marxist explainers in Teen Vogue, and perhaps most famously of all, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics is the first book to look closely at this new politics. Propelled by interviews with AOC and the other key figures and organizations that have shaken up American politics, the book includes portraits of groups like Democratic Socialists of America, the Sunrise Movement, and Justice Democrats, explaining who they are, where they come from, and what they want. Investigating the panoply of strategies employed by the new movements and their relationships to politicians from Bernie Sanders to Nancy Pelosi, the book describes how the generational focus on insurgent electoral campaigns both aims to transform the Democratic Party and threatens to be captured by it.

Written with panache by a member of this rising generation, this book immerses the reader in a youth culture the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Sixties.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Nathan Fisher]

Not going to rate this one either, seems cruel. Unclear who the target audience for this is, but it's definitely not socialists. Puff piece aimed at self-doubting liberals, maybe? Honestly mystified as to why this came out on Verso.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Lipsitz (full disclosure, with whom I have mutual friends) does an excellent job laying out the players and organizations involved, and why leftists have a lot to be excited about recently. She channels their passions (and by extension her own) with a mix of introspection and snark that makes you want to turn the page (or keep listening, in my case, since I had the audiobook). What person -- particularly a young person -- wouldn't want to get behind a movement advocating that everyone make a living wage, breathe clean air, have access to health care and equal justice, etc.?

Where I had trouble with this book was her blaming all the failures of these well-organized activists on the Establishment and Right-wing attacks. She's certainly not wrong, but it also feels a bit dismissive of some of the problems the New Left has winning support. Leaders claim to want to make a bigger tent, and yet they seem to use purity tests as a crutch -- she documents, for instance, how several organizations only reluctantly supported OG Squad member Ayanna Pressley, because she chose Warren over Bernie and once accepted a corporate donation (but no longer does). And even though "red baiting" has certainly tarnished Socialism's reputation, there seems almost an undercurrent of flippancy among young Socialists that it should be self-evident we aren't like those oppressive regimes from which many immigrants fled that also cloaked themselves in "socialism." For refugees, not necessarily -- that word is charged! There needs to be more education, less assumption that anyone who isn't for the message is just buying propaganda.

I liked the chapter about infiltrating unions; I think it'll be interesting to see if that particularly makes any headway, because of the storied socialist/union history. And just the fact that having far-left candidates, even if they are primaried out, can often push party platforms further left. It's all a phenomenon worth watching, and this book is a perfect primer (for both lefties and centrists) about where we are now and perhaps where we could be going.

[David Knuttunen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The arc does not bend toward justice unless ordinary people make extraordinary and sustained efforts to bend it.

Raina Lipsitz, "The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics", 2022: Verso

I strongly recommend this book. It is a well-researched and thought-provoking account of the trajectory of left-oriented politics in the USA over the past 8 years or so, with profiles of many of the important organizations, and interviews with some of the organizers, who have been making this happen. I have a few quibbles (I think the problem in the last few decades before the story she tells was not-so-much that we had less competent leftists, but that we had dramatically fewer of them, and a less receptive public), but that is far, far less important than the contributions to my understanding of the current left that the book provided. An excellent first book by a (herself) rising left journalist and activist who will hopefully be publishing many more. And hopefully this one will inspire many more people to get involved and make that arc start bending a little more sharply toward that justice this world so desperately needs.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often come late to these snapshots-of-the-political-moment books, and so get less out of them. So I congratulated myself for finding and reading this one shortly after it was published. The strength of these sorts of books is also their weakness–focused on the immediate present, they can provide a detailed, quasi-journalistic approach to understanding the politics around us as we read it. But their value can diminish with time, as their analysis is too brief of a time period as to feel relevant years later.

Lipsitz writes clearly and plainly, making the content very accessible to a broad general audience. It’s most useful to socialist-curious liberals. She does a great job describing the institutional players on the left with national profiles: Jacobin, DSA, Sunrise Movement, etc. The book is valuable to the extent that it gets in the hands of the many Americans who agree with a broad set of demands that they are yet to realize are, in fact, socialist. For engaged socialists, this book will offer less, simply reminding us of the obstacles we face and the questions we grapple with.

[Dave Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 40% Oh My God is this book dry & dull

How can you take one of the most exciting and hopeful movements in American politics in the last 50 - 60 years, and make it sound so bland and incidental.
There was very little here I hadn't heard, and that was presented in a passive voice.
I got 40% through this book and it started to repeat itself for the 3rd time. If it had anything new to tell me it should damn well have placed that information before the repetitions.
I can sum up this book briefly as: Young people are sick of the raw deal, and have stopped waiting for someone else to come save them.
That is exciting! My jaded old ass gave up hope way back down the road. seeing people get it together for the common good, and not just to get a profit out of each other fills my Gen-X heart with a lot more feeling than this book expresses.
I wanted to like this book as much as I love what it's about, but it just didn't reach me.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! This book is a very well-researched deep dive into the growing leftist movement in the United States. Lipsitz's access to politicians, political candidates, activists, organizers, and young leaders in and around the socialist movement lend the book an approachable, conversational quality that made me feel as if I was speaking directly with folks in the movement, not just reading a book about them. The primary focus is on the rise of the left since the 2016 election, but her telling is balanced with enough history and background of socialism in the United States to ground the narrative and provide needed context for readers newer to the topic. A must-read for anyone interested in the US's political future.

[Benjamin Solidarity · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read. Though I fear it represents a more hopeful time for the US socialist left. The prospects for the left seem a lot more bleak here in early 2023 then they did was this was released just a year ago. But its good to be reminded of the positive possibilities and more hopeful times for DSA.

[Ryan Gellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well written. An interesting topic. I really enjoyed it.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard but great read

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, fittingly open-ended bit of instant history.

[Robin Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello you youngins - save us already.