DSA's Religion and Socialism Commission: A Social Movement Analysis

Abstract

This article examines religious socialism as an American social movement. It focuses on the most recent iteration of this tradition, the Religion and Socialism Commission, formed in the 1970s as a subgroup of the Democratic Socialists of America. Drawing on concepts from social movement theory such as frame alignment and political opportunity structure, it argues that the Religion and Socialism Commission ultimately failed in its attempt to transition from an organization into a social movement. It then considers various possibilities for the future of religious socialism in the United States, given new variables such as a changing political opportunity structure and the rise of social media.