Millennial socialism is a resurgence of interest in democratic socialism and social democracy among Americans and Britons born between 1981 and 1996, generationally known as millennials.
According to some studies, American millennials are more supportive of aspects of socialist politics than prior generations. [1] Some American millennials support policies that would widen social safety nets and provide relief for student debt and health care costs. [2] In some late 2010s polls, young Americans viewed socialism positively and had a less favorable view of capitalism than their forebears. [3] [4] [5] According to a 2021 Axios poll, 49% of Americans aged 18 to 34 viewed capitalism positively, compared to 58% in 2019. [6] Capitalism, increasingly dissociated from its connotations of American success during the Cold War, developed an association with corporate greed, exacerbating climate change, [2] and inherited wealth. [5] Some commentators and researchers, such as James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute and Emily Ekins of the Cato Institute, have argued that millennial support for socialism can be more accurately described as support for social democracy, as opposed to socialism as traditionally conceived (e.g, a planned economy). [7] [8] [9]
As a generation, American millennials grew up with political discussions about class and inequality, the youngest millennials having been teenagers during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. [10] Young Americans generally face worse economic prospects than their forebears, including a higher cost of living, [2] and an increased student debt burden. [10] A 2019 SuperMoney report showed that average millennial income growth is flat after inflation. [2]
The American democratic socialist politicians Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have enjoyed support among millennials, with 70% saying they would be supportive of a candidate with a socialist background. [2] A 2019 YouGov poll showed a majority of millennial respondents as likely to vote for a socialist candidate [2] and millennial voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary preferred the democratic socialist candidate Sanders over Joe Biden by 20 percentage points. Throughout the late 2010s, millennials revitalized the aging Democratic Socialists of America from a marginalized advocacy group to 100,000 members nationwide. [10] Sanders and millennial socialists invoke the Nordic model as an alternative, in which taxes on markets and a high personal income tax, including of the middle class, fund the government. [2]
Jeremy Corbyn of the United Kingdom Labour Party had a similarly energizing effect on his country's millennials, though while he tripled the political party's size to become the largest in western Europe, its growth was not driven primarily by young people: the average age remained similar to that before the expansion. [11]
A 2019 Pew Research poll found that millennials were more distrustful of others than prior generations, suggesting that millennial socialist interest in state intervention might stem less from belief in human goodness and social trust, and more from a lack of such trust. [1]
Economist Ed Glaeser credits "boomer socialism" for the rise of millennial socialism. Although baby boomers (born 1946 to 1964) have an unfavorable view of socialism, baby boomers had social democratic programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and subsidized mortgages. [2]
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. The defining characteristics of capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, competitive markets, price systems, recognition of property rights, self-interest, economic freedom, work ethic, consumer sovereignty, decentralized decision-making, profit motive, a financial infrastructure of money and investment that makes possible credit and debt, entrepreneurship, commodification, voluntary exchange, wage labor, production of commodities and services, and a strong emphasis on innovation and economic growth. In a market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by owners of wealth, property, or ability to maneuver capital or production ability in capital and financial markets—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.
Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other forms of libertarianism by its rejection of private property. Broadly defined, it includes schools of both anarchism and Marxism, as well as other tendencies that oppose the state and capitalism.
Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership can take various forms, including public, community, collective, cooperative, or employee. As one of the main ideologies on the political spectrum, socialism is the standard left-wing ideology in most countries. Types of socialism vary based on the role of markets and planning in resource allocation, and the structure of management in organizations.
State capitalism is an economic system in which the state undertakes business and commercial economic activity and where the means of production are nationalized as state-owned enterprises. The definition can also include the state dominance of corporatized government agencies or of public companies in which the state has controlling shares.
The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by synthesising a combination of economically liberal and social democratic economic policies.
Red-baiting, also known as reductio ad Stalinum and red-tagging, is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting the target individual or group as anarchist, communist, Marxist, socialist, Stalinist, or fellow travelers towards these ideologies. In the phrase, red refers to the color that traditionally symbolized left-wing politics worldwide since the 19th century, while baiting refers to persecution, torment, or harassment, as in baiting.
The history of the socialist movement in the United States spans a variety of tendencies, including anarchists, communists, democratic socialists, social democrats, Marxists, Marxist–Leninists, Trotskyists and utopian socialists. It began with utopian communities in the early 19th century such as the Shakers, the activist visionary Josiah Warren and intentional communities inspired by Charles Fourier. Labor activists, usually Jewish, German, or Finnish immigrants, founded the Socialist Labor Party of America in 1877. The Socialist Party of America was established in 1901. By that time, anarchism also rose to prominence around the country. Socialists of different tendencies were involved in early American labor organizations and struggles. These reached a high point in the Haymarket massacre in Chicago, which founded the International Workers' Day as the main labour holiday around the world, Labor Day and making the eight-hour day a worldwide objective by workers organizations and socialist parties worldwide.
The Nordic model comprises the economic and social policies as well as typical cultural practices common in the Nordic countries. This includes a comprehensive welfare state and multi-level collective bargaining based on the economic foundations of social corporatism, and a commitment to private ownership within a market-based mixed economy – with Norway being a partial exception due to a large number of state-owned enterprises and state ownership in publicly listed firms.
Socialist democracy is a political system that aligns with principles of both socialism and democracy. It includes ideologies such as council communism, democratic socialism, social democracy, and soviet democracy, as well as Marxist democracy like the dictatorship of the proletariat. It was embodied in the Soviet system (1922–1991). It can also denote a system of political party organization like democratic centralism, or a form of democracy espoused by Marxist–Leninist political parties or groups that support one-party states. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992) styled itself a socialist democracy, as did the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990) and the Socialist Republic of Romania (1947–1989).
Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist and democratic approach toward achieving limited socialism. In modern practice, social democracy has taken the form of predominantly capitalist economies, with the state regulating the economy in the form of welfare capitalism, economic interventionism, partial public ownership, a robust welfare state, policies promoting social equality, and a more equitable distribution of income.
Jacobin is an American socialist magazine based in New York. Bhaskar Sunkara was its founding editor. As of 2023, the magazine reported a paid print circulation of 75,000 and over 3 million monthly online visitors. Established in 2010, Jacobin's circulation grew in 2016 with the increasing attention on leftist ideas stimulated by Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. The magazine's name is inspired by C. L. R. James's 1938 book The Black Jacobins, about the Haitian Revolution. Ideologically, the magazine is associated with democratic socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Authoritarian socialism, or socialism from above, is an economic and political system supporting some form of socialist economics while rejecting political pluralism. As a term, it represents a set of economic-political systems describing themselves as "socialist" and rejecting the liberal-democratic concepts of multi-party politics, freedom of assembly, habeas corpus, and freedom of expression, either due to fear of counter-revolution or as a means to socialist ends. Journalists and scholars have characterised several countries, most notably the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and their allies, as authoritarian socialist states.
Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a market socialist, decentralised planned, or democratic centrally planned socialist economy. Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support revolutionary or reformist politics to establish socialism. Democratic socialism was popularised by socialists who opposed the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other countries during the 20th century.
State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition from the capitalist to the socialist mode of production or to a communist society. State socialism was first theorised by Ferdinand Lassalle. It advocates a planned economy controlled by the state in which all industries and natural resources are state-owned.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a big tent, democratic socialist political organization in the United States. After the Socialist Party of America (SPA) was renamed Social Democrats, USA, Michael Harrington formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC). The DSOC later merged with the New American Movement (NAM) to form the DSA. The organization is headquartered in New York City and has about 80,000 members. It leads organizing and protest campaigns, and has members in the House of Representatives, state legislatures, and other local offices.
Generation Z, colloquially known as Zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.
Democratic socialism represents the modernist development of socialism and its outspoken support for democracy. The origins of democratic socialism can be traced back to 19th-century utopian socialist thinkers and the Chartist movement in Great Britain, which somewhat differed in their goals but shared a common demand of democratic decision making and public ownership of the means of production, and viewed these as fundamental characteristics of the society they advocated for. Democratic socialism was also heavily influenced by the gradualist form of socialism promoted by the British Fabian Society and Eduard Bernstein's evolutionary socialism.
Generation Z, colloquially also referred to as 'zoomers', is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years, while they use the early 2010s as the ending birth years, with the generation generally being defined as those born between 1997 and 2012.
Social democracy originated as an ideology within the labour movement whose goals have been a social revolution to promote socialism within democratic processes. In a nonviolent revolution as in the case of evolutionary socialism, or the establishment and support of a welfare state. Its origins lie in the 1860s as a revolutionary socialism associated with orthodox Marxism. Starting in the 1890s, there was a dispute between committed revolutionary social democrats such as Rosa Luxemburg and reformist social democrats. The latter sided with Marxist revisionists such as Eduard Bernstein, who supported a more gradual approach grounded in liberal democracy and cross-class cooperation. Karl Kautsky represented a centrist position. By the 1920s, social democracy became the dominant political tendency, along with communism, within the international socialist movement, representing a form of democratic socialism with the aim of achieving socialism peacefully. By the 1910s, social democracy had spread worldwide and transitioned towards advocating an evolutionary change from capitalism to socialism using established political processes such as the parliament. In the late 1910s, socialist parties committed to revolutionary socialism renamed themselves as communist parties, causing a split in the socialist movement between these supporting the October Revolution and those opposing it. Social democrats who were opposed to the Bolsheviks later renamed themselves as democratic socialists in order to highlight their differences from communists and later in the 1920s from Marxist–Leninists, disagreeing with the latter on topics such as their opposition to liberal democracy whilst sharing common ideological roots.
Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. The generation is typically defined as people born between 1981 and 1996. Millennials are reshaping political discourse, showing evolving attitudes towards governance, social issues, and economic policies. Their increasing political participation and distinct generational identity signify a transformative phase in contemporary politics, with potential long-term implications for national and global political trends.
Seventy percent of millennials – and 64 percent of Gen Z – answered that they'd be somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate, according to a poll conducted by data and research firm YouGov last September for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.