The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded as a successor to the

Intercollegiate Socialist Society The Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) was a socialist student organization active from 1905 to 1921. It attracted many prominent intellectuals and writers and acted as an unofficial student wing of the Socialist Party of America. The Society ...

in 1921. Members decided to change its name to reflect a more inclusive and more organizational perspective.

Background

Intercollegiate Socialist Society

The I.S.S. was founded in 1905 by

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, and

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with the stated purpose of throwing "light on the world-wide movement of industrial democracy known as socialism."

Name change

In the spring of 1921, the ISS held a vote regarding the name and goals of their organization. Harry Laidler announced: "the members of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society had declared themselves in favor of the change in name and purpose." In November, the organization assumed its new name and enlarged its scope to addressing society at large. They also presented their new guiding principle: "Education for a New Social Order Based on Production for Public Use and Not for Private Profit."

Early years

In its early years, the LID addressed societal problems such as poverty, child labor, work conditions, and poor housing conditions, under the leadership of notable activists: Robert Morss Lovett, Charles P. Steinmetz,

Florence Kelley Florence Moltrop Kelley (September 12, 1859 – February 17, 1932) was a social and political reformer and the pioneer of the term wage abolitionism. Her work against sweatshops and for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children's rig ...

, and Stuart Chase. It became the base for leftwing intellectuals, otherwise known as Muckrakers. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the LID organized radio stations and broadcasts centered around the New Deal. Throughout its history, the LID has called itself a proponent of the labor movement. The group saw this movement as a progressive force that is misunderstood by intellectuals. The goal of this is to break down these perceived boundaries and to promote "education for increasing democracy in our economic, political, and cultural life" Today's affiliates are mostly anti-communists and focus their energy on democracy building in places such as Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central America, while paying very little attention to its domestic program.

Student affiliates

Its campus presence waned until the Great Depression of the 1930s led to an increase in radical student activism. The collegiate section was reorganized into an autonomous Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID) in 1933. This merged with the Communist National Student League in 1935 to create the popular front American Student Union. LID activity on campus remained somewhat dormant until 1946, when the Student League for Industrial Democracy was reconstituted.

Students for a Democratic Society

On January 1, 1960 the SLID changed its name to the

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

and began to take a more radical direction. In July 1962

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, then chair, and

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clashed with Tom Hayden and

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over their Port Huron Statement, in particular its * suggestion that the labor movement was "too quiescent, to be counted with enthusiasm" as an agent for change, * espousal of

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy or participative democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, rather than through elected repr ...

and dislike of formal offices, seen as potentially undemocratic and lacking accountability, and * failure to explicitly exclude communists from its vision of the New Left. By 1965, SDS had separated from the LID, but it ended national activity in 1969, after it had been taken over by

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

groups, some of which advocated and committed political

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

Activities

The LID has been actively supporting the Solidarity movement in Poland since 1980, providing financial, moral and political support. Furthermore, in 1986, the LID coordinated efforts on a campaign to protest the crackdown on Polish universities by the government. The LID, in conjunction with Poland Watch Center and Committee in Support of Solidarity, publishes a quarterly bulletin ''Solidarnosc''. The Brussels-based Committee in Support of Solidarity (CSS) is a group heavily supported by the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

(NED), a U.S. government-funded organization that sponsors anticommunist,"democracy-building" projects around the globe. In a three-year period, CSS received over a million dollars from NED. The League is a membership organization. Fees range from $5 to $25 per year, while lifetime memberships are $500.

References

Sources

* Bernard K. Johnpoll and Mark R. Yerburgh (eds.), ''The League for Industrial Democracy: A Documentary History.'' In three volumes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1980. * Kirkpatrick Sale, ''SDS.'' New York: Random House, 1973.

External links

League for Industrial Democracy

Online documents at Early American Marxism site. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
''Thirty-five years of educational pioneering; L.I.D. celebrates past achievements and asks "Where do we go from here?"''''Forty years of education, the task ahead''''The L.I.D.: fifty years of democratic education, 1905-1955.''''The challenge of change and conflict in American society''
The proceedings of the 70th annual conference of the League for Industrial Democracy held in New York City on May 2 and 3, 1975.

* ttp://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/tam_049/ League for Industrial Democracy Recordsat Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives {{authority control Student wings of political parties in the United States Socialist Party of America 1905 establishments in the United States Political advocacy groups in the United States