For R23: Why YDSA Needs Its Own International Committee
This article argues for a yes vote on Resolution 23: “For an Independent Youth International Committee.”
This past year, YDSA’s international work has been carried out through the International Committee–Youth Leadership Committee (IC–YLC), a subcommittee of DSA’s International Committee (IC). The IC–YLC is a limited 10-person body, with members nominated by the YDSA’s National Coordinating Committee and approved by the DSA’s National Political Committee. Historically, the main mission of the IC–YLC has been to plug YDSA members into the work of the DSA IC.
While the IC–YLC has done good work, there’s a consensus that its current structure is holding it back. Resolution 10, sponsored by Constellation caucus, and Resolution 23, sponsored by Bread & Roses, both seek to reform the body by removing the 10-person membership limit, renaming it to the “Youth International Committee” (YIC), and formally shifting the committee’s role to supporting the anti-imperialist work of YDSA chapters. However, while R10 keeps the YIC as a subcommittee of DSA’s IC, R23 seeks to create an independent YIC, fully accountable to YDSA. To protect YDSA autonomy, the 2024 YDSA convention needs to pass Resolution 23: “For an Independent Youth International Committee.”
The Need for Youth Autonomy
Right now, YDSA does not have its own independent international committee. The IC–YLC is under the authority of the IC Steering Committee (IC–SC), which must approve the IC–YLC’s statements, events, and campaigns. This structure is unique within YDSA; all of our other political work is conducted through our own independent committees, which are solely subject to the authority of the YDSA convention and our elected leadership, the National Coordinating Committee.
This current structure has already led to one confrontation between YDSA and the leadership of DSA’s IC. In September, thousands of students at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil went on strike to protest the defunding of public education and the ongoing faculty shortage at their university. Students-organizers at USP reached out to YDSA and requested that we publish a statement in solidarity with their struggle. The IC-YLC quickly drafted a statement and voted unanimously to publish it. However, we were overruled by the IC Steering Committee, who didn’t approve our statement. The supposed reason for not approving the statement was that the IC–SC’s contacts in Brazil stated that the faculty union was not in support of the strike. It was quickly pointed out that the USP faculty was in fact supportive of the strike and even voted to join the students in their strike, but we didn’t hear anything back. It took a couple weeks of YDSA members applying pressure on the IC–SC for them to approve the statement. This fight delayed the publication of our solidarity statement until after the height of the student strike.
In addition to hampering our ability to quickly respond to rapid international developments, the current IC–YLC structure conflicts with the core principle of YDSA autonomy. As argued last year, “self-governance is necessary for YDSA to fulfill its strategic mission: developing lifelong socialist organizers and leaders. Young socialists [must] have the opportunity to run our own organization and democratically deliberate on how to conduct our work and use our resources.” This ability to democratically lead our own organization serves as an important educational opportunity for young socialists to learn how to think critically about important political and strategic questions, engage in political discussion, and collectively decide how we orient our work through hands-on experience.
As an autonomous youth branch of DSA, we hold our own annual convention so that we can decide our own political orientation and priorities. We elect our own independent leadership to coordinate our work throughout the year and we organize through our own committees. We are trusted to make our own decisions in our labor organizing, external communications, and elsewhere. Our international work should be no exception. Consistent adherence to the principle of youth autonomy requires YDSA to be able to freely decide the orientation of our international work.
Resolution 23 would accomplish this by creating an independent Youth International Committee (YIC), fully accountable to the YDSA convention and the NCC. The members of the YIC will be appointed by the NCC, following the same process used for all other YDSA committees. R23 also requests that the IC Steering Committee dissolve the IC–YLC and transfer its responsibilities to the new YIC, while allowing a member of the YIC to serve as a YDSA representative on the IC Steering Committee to ensure coordination and collaboration. The Youth International Committee will have two tasks:
- Create and maintain relations with youth wings of socialist parties and youth/student organizations around the world, and
- Assist YDSA chapters engaged in anti-imperialist organizing on their campuses.
Youth Autonomy Is Democracy, Not Separatism
Some argue that forming an independent Youth International Committee would be separating ourselves and our international work from DSA. This is not true. Youth autonomy means that YDSA should be able to direct our own political work. However, we can and should still collaborate with and receive support from DSA when possible.
YDSA’s National Labor Committee is independent from DSA’s National Labor Commission, yet the bodies collaborate and work closely. YDSA’s National Labor Committee is also able to send a representative to sit on the DSA NLC’s Steering Committee. Additionally, YDSA chapters are autonomous from their local DSA chapters yet they frequently collaborate on campaigns and receive mentorship and support. Likewise, an independent Youth International Committee would collaborate closely with the DSA’s International Committee.
We wouldn’t have to worry about losing our established connections with youth organizations abroad either. Our current international connections are maintained by YDSA members who would be able to transmit this institutional knowledge to the new YIC, and who could serve on the body themselves. There’s also no reason why DSA’s IC wouldn’t be able to share their international connections with the YIC and vice versa.
Finally, some proponents of R10 argue that we shouldn’t have an independent YIC because YDSA shouldn’t be able to take a different political line from DSA. This ignores that YDSA already frequently does take its own political line differing from that of DSA. Many YDSA chapters have passed resolutions denouncing national DSA’s (since withdrawn) endorsement of AOC. Resolutions that will be debated at this upcoming convention, like “No Votes for Genocide,” would result in YDSA taking a stance differing from that of DSA. The reason why we have our own convention and elected leadership is so that we can decide our own political line. This autonomy has been crucial in enabling YDSA to develop relations with organizations more skeptical or critical of DSA as a whole, like Palestinian Youth Movement and Students for Justice In Palestine.
Our ability to develop our collective politics as YDSA, even when those may diverge from DSA’s, is our ability to think critically. New organizers should be able democratically work out their own politics, and the politics of our organization, without encountering arbitrary lines around what we can think and say.
For YDSA to be able to choose the orientation of our international work autonomously and to respond to international developments rapidly, we need our own independent Youth International Committee. Bring our international work home and vote ‘Yes’ on R23!