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The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912

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Iris Kipnis' "The American Socialist Movement: 1897-1912" provides a detailed account of the politics that dominated the Socialist Party in the United States during this timeframe. While the SP gained an impressive number of votes in the 1912 elections, it ultimately failed to fulfill its declared purpose, which was to change the United States from a capitalist to a socialist society. Well before 1912, the Socialist Party had divided itself into two factions: the Left faction and the Center-Right faction. According to Kipnis, the Left Faction devoted itself to building a labor movement and largely eschewed political struggles, both within the party and against the capitalist parties. The Center-Right faction, on the other hand, focused virtually all of its efforts on electoral politics, ignoring most of the labor movement and compromising on basic socialist principles to win support from middle class voters. While they did succeed in winning some local elections, including a seat in the US House of Representatives, Socialist Party candidates accomplished little while they were in office. The electoral orientation of the party persisted, however, in large part because of the control that the Right exercised over the party hierarchy. Even before 1912, the Center-Right faction controlled most of the party leadership and eliminated many of the democratic aspects of the Party, although they did not officially expel the Left until 1919.

Kipnis' account of this growth and evolution of the Socialist Party offers interesting insights into the people who lead the party, as well as the challenges facing the contemporary socialist movement. Issues that plague the movement today, such as factionalism and opportunism, were also faced by the early socialists in the US. Anyone who is interested in building a revolutionary workers' movement could gain a great deal from a reading of Kipnis' account of the Socialist Party.

The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912 scrutinizes the rise and decline of the American Socialist Party, which at its height had more than a hundred and fifty thousand members and almost a million votes for its presidential candidate. A classic history first written in the mid-twentieth century, The American Socialist Movement 1987-1912 discusses socialist ideology in the early 1900's, party propaganda, the influences of Christianity and immigration, attacks on constructive socialism, the repercussions of factionalism, the recall of Bill Haywood and much more. An extensively researched and documented account ideal for scholarly study and reference, and a welcome addition to college library and reference shelves.