The League for Industrial Democracy (or LID) was founded in 1905 by a group of notable socialists including Jack London, Norman Thomas, Upton Sinclair, and James Phelps Stokes. Its original name was the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, and its stated purpose was "educating Americans about the need to extend democracy to every aspect of our society."[citation needed] Under its original name, the League focused its efforts on proselytizing to college students about the labor movement, socialism, and industrial democracy.
In 1921, the organization assumed its new name and enlarged its scope to addressing society at large. Decades later, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) grew out of the League's youth arm. It was initially known as the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID).
At Port Huron in 1960, Tom Hayden clashed with Irving Howe and Michael Harrington over perceived potential for totalitarianism. Hayden said, "While the draft Port Huron Statement included a strong denunciation of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t enough for LID leaders like Michael Harrington. They wanted absolute clarity, for example, that the United States was blameless for the nuclear arms race... In truth, they seemed threatened by the independence of the new wave of student activism..."[citation needed] By 1965, SDS had divorced itself from the LID.
The League for Industrial Democracy became a publishing front for the followers of Max Shachtman, who had dominated the organization since the late 1950s. As of 2007, the post office box of the Shachtmanite legacy group Social Democrats USA is held under the name League for Industrial Democracy.
Books
- Johnpoll, Bernard K. and Yerburgh, Mark R., eds. The League for Industrial Democracy: A Documentary History. Vol. I-III. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1980. ISBN 0313226148
- Sale, Kirkpatrick. SDS. New York: Random House, 1973. ISBN 0394478894
External links
- Intercollegiate Socialist Society (1905 - 1921). 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
- Steward training in C.I.O. unions.
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