Hey! What’s better than being in the largest socialist organizaiton in the US? Being in an even largest-er socialist organization in the US! Join DSA-LA’s Growth and Development Committee for our 2023 Recommitment Drive! We’ll be phonebanking expiring and expired members to ask them to re-commit to help us build socialism and a better world.

Never phonebanked before? No problem! We’ll have a short training before we get started and people on the call to help with any problems that come up.

This is a great way to help grow DSA and we need your help to make it happen!

Sign up to take part in our phonebanks using the links below:

To reject a type of marital arrangement because of its supposed incompatibility with “the traditional definition of marriage” only calls attention to the speaker’s ignorance of well-known ethnographic and historic facts.

April 30, 2012 4:04 pm | Updated February 2, 2016

By Richard Feinberg

After years of argument a half-dozen states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. Several more, including my own, are considering it. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidates, right-wing columnists and talk show hosts, evangelical pastors, and recently even Pope Benedict have called upon Americans to halt the spread of “immorality.” Family values, we are told, require us to defend marriage as “traditionally defined.” As an anthropologist I find this whole discussion rather odd.

Generations of my colleagues have agreed that marriage is a cross-cultural universal. Every known community, with one or two arguable exceptions, has had some marriage system. Common American assumptions about marriage, however, do not apply to large numbers of “traditional” communities.

Despite the claim that marriage is a bond between one man and one woman, polygamy (defined broadly as plural marriage) is extremely common and was even more so in the past. The most frequently encountered variant is polygyny, the marriage of one husband to multiple wives. Often, the co-wives are sisters, an arrangement known as sororal polygyny. Less common variants are polyandry (one wife, multiple husbands) and polygynandry (an arrangement that involves multiple spouses of both sexes). We even have reports from East Africa’s Nuer of “ghost marriage,” where a man marries a woman in the name of his deceased brother. The dead brother is regarded as the woman’s husband, and her children consider his ghost to be their father. They call the man who is cohabiting with their mother by a term that normally means “uncle.”

Among the world’s known cultures, most have accepted polygyny as legitimate. Many have actively preferred it. It is far from some quaint, exotic practice; indeed, it is well-established in the Bible. Ironically, however, even in communities that permit polygyny, people typically marry monogamously, not for moral reasons but for economic ones. Few men have the resources to support more than one wife and her children.

While people usually content themselves with just one spouse, monogamy has many variants. In the Roman Catholic tradition marriage is for life, and divorce is forbidden. Similarly, Polynesians of Anuta, a Pacific island I have studied now for close to 40 years, are affiliated with the Church of England and do not permit divorce. The fact that marriages are durable, however, does not mean they are always happy.

In most places divorce is possible, and it is often followed by remarriage. The result, known technically as serial monogamy, is familiar to Americans — as it is to many other peoples.

In much of the modern world, marriages are initiated by the couple on the basis of personal attraction. In a substantial number of communities, however, marriage partners are selected by the parents of the bride and groom. Sometimes the transaction is completed while the couple are still children. This makes sense in light of the anthropological finding that marriage is often a political and economic arrangement between groups rather than a personal arrangement between individuals. Such marriages are structured differently from ours, yet they are just as likely to be happy and long-lasting.

Seen in an anthropological light, gay marriage is one variant in a remarkably diverse set of practices. Same-sex marriages are not exactly commonplace in the mosaic of world cultures. Neither are they absent from “traditional” societies, however, despite the claims of those who argue for a legal ban on same-sex marriages.

Non-marital but regularized homosexual contact is well-known in certain regions of New Guinea, where boys are required to undergo ritualized homoerotic experiences as they grow into manhood. Same-sex marriage, more properly speaking, is reported from some parts of western Egypt. The Nuer, mentioned above, sometimes reclassify a barren woman as an honorary man. She then takes a wife and selects a suitable man to produce offspring on her behalf. Perhaps the best-known illustration of same-sex marriage, however, is the berdache, a character found among many American Indian tribes.

In most parts of Native North America, people made allowances for boys who wished to eschew stereotypical male sex roles. They dressed in girls’ clothes, kept company with girls while growing up, took on women’s roles around the camp or village, and upon reaching adulthood might take a husband. The berdache was a respected member of the community and was often thought to have extraordinary spiritual powers.

Anthropologists have found that all these arrangements “work” in the sense that people in communities that practice them are able to live happy, active, rewarding lives. So should they be encouraged in the 21st-century United States? Here, a bit of scholarly equivocation is called for. Each arrangement has both costs and benefits, and what works in one community may not perform as well in others.

However, to assess the value of such practices requires that we know what has been tried and how the salient customs have affected people’s lives. To reject a type of marital arrangement because of its supposed incompatibility with “the traditional definition of marriage” only calls attention to the speaker’s ignorance of well-known ethnographic and historic facts.

Richard Feinberg is a professor of anthropology at Kent State University, where he has taught since 1974. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and has conducted research with the Navajo in New Mexico as well as Polynesians in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Feinberg has published over a dozen books and monographs, and approximately 100 professional articles. He has served as chair of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania, president of the Central States Anthropological Society, and Chair of Kent State’s Faculty Senate.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/defending-traditional-marriage_b_1460026

Phoenix DSA has launched a massive statewide effort to repeal Arizona’s unfair anti-union laws: Arizona Works Together. Targeted for the 2024 general election, members across Arizona are working closely with labor unions to gather the thousands of signatures necessary to qualify the initiative for the ballot. DSA is proud to endorse the measure nationally and encourages members everywhere to support this crucial fight – fair terms for organizing in Arizona benefits the entire working class!

DSA is excited to join Pittsburgh DSA in endorsing Sam Schmidt for District 13, Allegheny County. Sam is a socialist, veteran and outspoken advocate for environmental and reproductive justice, and was a whistleblower against abuse during her time in the armed services.

If passed, Proposition 2A will allocate significant funds for a police training facility. DSA joins our Colorado Springs chapter in asking voters to Stop Cop City – Colorado Springs! Colorado Springs DSA is fully committed to fighting the expansion of the prison industrial complex in Colorado Springs, proudly working in coalition with other community organizations as the #StopCopCityCOS campaign.  

Join us this Sunday, October 29 3pm at the Labor Temple for some grilling, chilling, and organizing! We will be discussing how to mobilize and organize, and what’s the difference. Afterwards we will be grilling, and have some good ole Socialist Socialization! Workshop starts at 3 and cookout afterwards.

Grillidarity art is by local artist Gavin Herzog.

On October 14th, the Northeast Tennessee chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America formally adopted a Resolution to Commit Its Support to Palestinian Liberation and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement. 

While drafting of the resolution began in August, this month’s events have only reinforced our belief that achieving a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike requires first and foremost ending the state of apartheid and colonial subjugation that Israel daily imposes on Palestinians.

In pursuit of that end, we join our national organization in demanding No Money for Massacres, as announced by DSA’s national leadership on October 14:

#NoMoneyforMassacres Solidarity Phone Bank

We encourage members of Northeast TN DSA to join other DSA members in #NoMoneyforMassacres phone banks to end the siege on Gaza and decisively reject US military funding for war crimes. An up-to-date list of phone bank events is maintained here. As a DSA member, you can join any of the phone banks remotely. If you are not yet a DSA member, become a member today at dsausa.org/join.

We also call upon all who seek an end to violence to call on their congress members to demand an immediate ceasefire and to vote against providing further military aid to the Israeli state.

Northeast TN DSA’s Commitment

Per the resolution we have adopted, Northeast Tennessee DSA will be organizing at least one local introductory-level educational event on Palestine and BDS.

We will also be producing a list of products, companies, and institutions that are subject to targeted boycotts by the BDS Movement, which will be posted publicly at the Appalachian Liberation Library.

We are also updating our endorsement guidelines to ask that candidates seeking endorsement from the chapter pledge to refuse campaign support from pro-Israel and anti-BDS lobby groups, to use their elected position to divest any funds they oversee from apartheid and reinvest it in our communities, and to refrain from travel to Israel with the backing of the Israel government or affiliated organizations. 

Other Ways to Help

Donate to Palestinian organizations providing crucial relief and services in Gaza and the West Bank:

• Middle East Children’s Alliance
• Medical Aid for Palestinians
• Al-Awda Health and Community Association
• Hebron International Resource Network

Get involved with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement and join or support the End the Nakba Campaign organized by Progressive International. The aim of Progressive International is to combine forces across borders in order to reclaim the planet as our own. DSA joined Progressive International after our most recent national convention.

Statement from Madison Area DSA

We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, indigenous and colonized people everywhere, and all those here in Madison and around the world who are struggling for their liberation.

Since October 7th, Israel’s military has intensified its 17 year blockade of Gaza into a full siege, blocking off water, electricity, and basic supplies. In the first 6 days of this conflict, over 6,000 bombs were dropped on the 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip. Over 1.1 million Palestinians, half of them children, have been ordered to leave their homes. This is genocide.

This violence is not new. It is the culmination of 75 years of ethnic cleansing with support from the US government.

We grieve the thousands of lives that have been and will be lost and upended in the current conflict. There is one, and only one way to end the violence: End the apartheid. End the Israeli government’s occupation. End the genocide. Support the liberation of the Palestinian people.

The Biden administration has pledged further unconditional support for Israel, on top of the 3.8 billion dollars per year in military funding they already receive. We condemn in the strongest possible terms our nation’s continued and unqualified support of the apartheid regime in Israel. We demand the end to military funding of Israel, and an end to the blockade. There must be an immediate ceasefire and provision of humanitarian aid.

We remember the devastating results of Islamophobia and dehumanization in the wake of the attacks on September 11th, and are distraught by the militaristic and genocidal rhetoric that we are seeing yet again from our country’s political leaders and in the news media. Social media is awash with this as well, as false claims spread even more quickly and easily.

Standing in solidarity with the powerless in the face of oppression is often difficult, when so many are so eager to side with the powerful. We as socialists must not back down in the face of bad faith criticism, opposition, and disinformation intended only to silence critics and manufacture consent for the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, indigenous and colonized people everywhere, and all those here in Madison and around the world who are struggling for their liberation.

Since October 7th, Israel’s military has intensified its 17 year blockade of Gaza into a full siege, blocking off water, electricity, and basic supplies. In the first 6 days of this conflict, over 6,000 bombs were dropped on the 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip. Over 1.1 million Palestinians, half of them children, have been ordered to leave their homes. This is genocide.

This violence is not new. It is the culmination of 75 years of ethnic cleansing with support from the US government.

We grieve the thousands of lives that have been and will be lost and upended in the current conflict. There is one, and only one way to end the violence: End the apartheid. End the Israeli government’s occupation. End the genocide. Support the liberation of the Palestinian people.

The Biden administration has pledged further unconditional support for Israel, on top of the 3.8 billion dollars per year in military funding they already receive. We condemn in the strongest possible terms our nation’s continued and unqualified support of the apartheid regime in Israel. We demand the end to military funding of Israel, and an end to the blockade. There must be an immediate ceasefire and provision of humanitarian aid.

We remember the devastating results of Islamophobia and dehumanization in the wake of the attacks on September 11th, and are distraught by the militaristic and genocidal rhetoric that we are seeing yet again from our country’s political leaders and in the news media. Social media is awash with this as well, as false claims spread even more quickly and easily.

Standing in solidarity with the powerless in the face of oppression is often difficult, when so many are so eager to side with the powerful. We as socialists must not back down in the face of bad faith criticism, opposition, and disinformation intended only to silence critics and manufacture consent for the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

CONTACT: dsamadison@gmail.com