In your opinion, what philosophers anchor contemporary democratic socialist thinking?

[HereSince1628]

By this I mean the thinkers whose work would be both drawn upon and extended by Democratic Socialists writers, bloggers, etc.

[RufusTFirefly]

1. Michael Harrington seems like an obvious choice n/t

[HereSince1628]

2. Thanks.

[HereSince1628]

5. I did a wiki...wondering if you are familiar enough to suggest a starting place

any of these?

The Other America: Poverty in the United States. New York: Macmillan, 1962.

The Retail Clerks. New York: John Wiley, 1962.

The Accidental Century. New York: Macmillan, 1965.

The Social-Industrial Complex. New York: League for Industrial Democracy, 1968.

Toward a Democratic Left: A Radical Program for a New Majority. New York: Macmillan, 1968.

Socialism. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1972.

Fragments of the Century: A Social Autobiography. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1973.

Twilight of Capitalism. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

The Vast Majority. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Tax Policy and the Economy: A Debate between Michael Harrington and Representative Jack Kemp, April 25, 1979., with Jack Kemp, New York: Institute for Democratic Socialism, 1979.

James H. Cone, "The Black Church and Marxism: what do they have to say to each other", with comments by Michael Harrington, New York: Institute for Democratic Socialism, 1980.

Decade of Decision: The Crisis of the American System. New York: Touchstone, 1981.

The Next America: The Decline and Rise of the United States. New York: Touchstone, 1981.

The Politics at God's Funeral: The Spiritual Crisis of Western Civilization. New York: Henry Holt, 1983.

The New American Poverty. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1984.

Taking Sides: The Education of a Militant Mind. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1985.

The Next Left: The History of a Future. New York: Henry Holt, 1986.

The Long Distance Runner: An Autobiography. New York: Henry Holt, 1988.

Socialism: Past & Future. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1989.

[RufusTFirefly]

7. "The Other America" is his best known work

In fact, President Kennedy read it and was greatly influenced by it.

After seeing reviews of ''The Other America,'' President Kennedy read the work himself, according to his aides. Kennedy subsequently supported Federal initiatives to help the poor. What later became known as the War on Poverty was largely carried out by President Johnson after Kennedy's death. It included the expansion of existing programs like Social Security, Aid to Families With Dependent Children and food stamps, as well as new programs for housing and medical care.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/02/obituaries/michael-harrington-socialist-and-author-is-dead.html

[HereSince1628]

10. I saw that on wiki... maybe that's a good place to start

[ladjf]

3. That's a good question. I'm sorry to say, Bernie is the only

Democratic Socialist I know. I've read some of his explanations about why he calls himself a Democratic Socialist. But, if his platform represents Democratic Socialism, then I'm one.

When I was a child, my father used to explain to me that things like libraries, fire departments,
public schools, police forces and any other services provided by the government is situations where the services were for the benefit of everyone and were paid for by Government tax revenues.

That sounds like my father might have been a Democratic Socialist.

Back to your question, the science of philosophy seems to have faded out somewhat as though it isn't so important anymore. But, philosophy is the science that studies values , which should make it the most important philosophy.

The existentialists might have killed off the formal study of philosophy by their egotistical and self centered concept that knowledge sprouts from the inner workings of their beautiful minds rather than careful observations of observable events.

[HereSince1628]

8. The only one I know anything about was a Milwaukee Mayor.

Socialism was popular here in the first half of the 20th century.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Have you read fellow Wisconsinite John Nichols' book?

[HereSince1628]

16. Nope. I'm looking to start

[deathrind]

4. As mentioned above.

Michael Harrington

Plus...a couple more...

Salvador Allende

Naomi Kline

Eugene V Debs

Bertrand Russelle

[HereSince1628]

6. Thanks

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Agree on Naomi Klein. I read "No Logo" when it came out and loved it.

That put me on alert for her next book, so when "The Shock Doctrine" came out, I bought it immediately. It is arguably her most important work. In it she argues that neo-liberals take advantage of disasters, unrest, and upheavals to force through regressive changes that would never be adopted otherwise.

Her latest book, "This Changes Everything" is about how the reality of climate change may cause us to adopt a democratic socialist approach for the sake of the planet's survival.

What's interesting about Klein is that she's married to a filmmaker (Avi Lewis). As a result, "The Shock Doctrine" and "This Changes Everything"' both have companion films.

Finally, although it conflicts with the sanitized version of him that gets carted out every February, Dr. Martin Luther King was almost certainly a democratic socialist.

[OutNow]

9. Harrington is good, some others include:

Barbara Ehrenreich has written several excellent books.
Dr. Cornel West is also a prolific writer.
Dr. Joseph Stiglitz is an economist and Nobel Prize recipient. It helps to have a background in economics when reading Stiglitz.
Dr. Thomas Piketty wrote the best selling book (yes, really an economist with a best seller!!!) Capital in the 21st Century.

You will find many of the same topics that Bernie covers in his stump speech, but in much more detail. There really is a lot of analysis and data that validate concepts like free higher education, massive jobs programs to rebuild our infrastructure, why income inequality is bad for the country, etc.

Do you know that there is a organization for democratic sociaiists? It's named Democratic Socialists of America.

http://www.dsausa.org/

[HereSince1628]

12. I knew there have been a handful of organizations around democratic socialism

in my life. I knew one of them worked within the democratic party...

[Donkees]

11. Chief Seattle

[Depaysement]

14. Among the living

Jacques Rancière, Antonio Negri, Giorgio Agamben, Gayatri Spivak and Slavoj Žižek. Others are Naomi Klein, Doug Henwood, David Harvey, etc. I can name more but I think that should help you get started.

[HereSince1628]

17. thanks