Difference between revisions of "Michael Harrington"

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Revision as of 17:00, 14 July 2010

Michael Harrington
For the Congressman, see Michael Harrington (Representative).

Michael Harrington (February 24, 1928 — July 31, 1989) was an author, educator and socialist activist. His most influential book, The Other America, exposed the prevalence of poverty in the midst of America's post-WWII affluence and is widely acknowledged as the inspiration for the war on poverty during the 1960's. Michael Harrington was a Distinguished Professor of Political Science on the faculties of Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.[1]

Early socialism

Bogdan Denitch recruited Michael Harrington to the Young Peoples Socialist League in the Spring of 1952.[2]

DSOC founding convention

The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee founding convention Socialism'73 took place in New York City, October 12 and 13, 1973, at the Loeb Student Center, NY University and at the McAlpin Hotel. Speakers included;

Chile petition

In 1973;

Circulated a petition opposing the anti - socialist military government of Chile.[4]

We urge that the people of the world join in pressing upon the military junta of Chile the realization that they must abide by the norms of civilized practices and human decency.

Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee

Some 150 delegates and 100 observers met at Houston's Airport Holiday Inn, February 16-19, 1979, for the fourth national convention of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC).

DSOC's leadership[5]at the 1979 convention included-Michael Harrington, chairman, Julius Bernstein vice chairman, Victor Reuther vice chairman, Jack Clark national secretary.

the national board consisted of-Julian Bond, Harry Boyte, Bogdan Denitch, Harry Fleischman, Irving Howe, Alex Spinrad, Gloria Steinem, Harry Walsh, Nat Weinberg, Richard Wilson

In The Times Founding sponsors

In 1976 founding sponsors of the Institute for Policy Studies/New American Movement linked socialist journal were;

Democratic Agenda

More than 1,200 people attended the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee initiated Democratic Agenda Conference held November 16-18, 1979, at the International Inn and Metropolitan AM Church in Washington 1 DC. The conference focused on "corporate power'; as the key barrier to "economic and political democracy," concepts many Democratic Agenda participants defined as "socialism.'

The Democratic Agenda meetings attempted to develop anti-corporate alternatives" through influencing the direction of the Democratic Party during the period leading to the July 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York.

Keynote speakers included Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry, Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee leader Mildred Jeffrey and Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee chairman Michael Harrington.[7]

Harrington said that the Democratic Agenda alliance hoped to control as many as one-third of the delegates to the Democratic Party National Convention. "We have to see to it that when that convention meets in New York, it is an anticorporate convention,"

Harrington said, "We must light a fire and turn this crisis into a movement for economic and social justice... We must take this nation as far beyond Roosevelt as he took it beyond Hoover.

Harrington's solution for U. S. social and economic ills was the Democratic Agenda program:

  • A federally-owned gas and oil corporation "on the model of the TVA
  • full employment with price controls "by putting Americans back to work as part of a national plan to meet desperately urgent human

and economic needs;" ,

  • a comprehensive national health plan
  • greatly expanded federal housing programs that would guarantee "the right to decent housing
  • ending federal subsidies to agribusiness corporations while "providing encouragement" to "family farmers."[8]

New American Movement 10th convention

In 1981 Michael Harrington, National Chair, Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee; Roberta Lynch, NAM National Leader; Eqbal Ahmed, Transnational Institute and Joanne Barkan, NY NAM spoke on a mini-plenary entitled New Dangers, New Opportunities: Building a Socialist Politics for the '80's at the 10th Convention of the New American Movement. The convention was held in a union headquarters in Chicago and ran from July 29 - August 2, 1981.[9]

Tribute to Ben Dobbs

On Sunday, June 7, 1981, the Los Angeles Chapter of the New American Movement sponsored a Tribute to Ben Dobbs for "His lifelong commitment to socialism". The event was held at the Miramar-Sheraton Hotel, Santa Monica, California. Sponsors of the event included Michael Harrington.[10]

Anti-anti-communism

In a report to the New American Movement National interim committee, Frank Ackerman, a member of the NAM/DSOC merger negotiating team, commented on Harrington's growing anti-anti-communism;[11]

My sense of it is that what DSOC really insists on is the explicit criticism of the Soviet Union; when that is agreed to,

many of them, including Harrington, are willing to be quite clearly critical of U.S. imperiralism, of domestic anti-communism (the attempt to discuss anti-communism here fails, I think,to capture the extent of Harrington's current .. anti-anti-communism," a change in his positions over the last few years).

District 1199 Cultural Center

In 1982 Advisers to the District 1199 Cultural Center, Inc. New York were:[12]

DSA co chair

In 1984 Democratic Socialists of America co chairs were Michael Harrington and Barbara Ehrenreich[13].

Opposing loans to Chile

In 1987, Joanne Landy, Thomas Harrison and Gail Daneker, Directors, Campaign for Peace and Democracy/East and West, New York, circulated a statement Against Loans to Chile calling upon the Reagan Administration to oppose all loans to Chile.

It has been signed by leading "peace, labor, human rights, religious and cultural figures from the United States, Western Europe and Latin America." They were "joined by a large number of activists and writers from the USSR and Eastern Europe, many of whom have been persecuted in their own countries for work in independent peace and human rights movements."

Michael Harrington endorsed the call.

The majority of signatories were affiliated with Democratic Socialists of America.[14]

Michael Harrington Center

The Michael Harrington Center was founded in honor of Michael Harrington. The website states,

The Center exists to promote public, democratic discussion of social issues, to advocate for social change and to work in partnerships with others to build a more just, equitable and democratic society.[15]

References

Template:Reflist

  1. ↑ http://mhconline.org/about-the-center
  2. ↑ http://www.dsaboston.org/yradical/yr2008-01.pdf
  3. ↑ [1] Newsletter of the Democratic Left, October 1973, page 6
  4. ↑ [2] Newsletter of the Democratic Left, October 1973, page 3
  5. ↑ Information Digest March 7 1979 p 63
  6. ↑ [3] In These Times home page, accessed March 6, 2010
  7. ↑ Information Digest, December 14, 1979, page 372
  8. ↑ Information Digest, December 14, 1979, pages 368
  9. ↑ NAM 10th Convention Agenda, July 29, 1981
  10. ↑ Tribute to Ben Dobbs program, June 7, 1981
  11. ↑ NAM Discussion bulletin No 35, Spring 1981 p 16
  12. ↑ District 1199 Cultural Center, Inc. letterhead 1982
  13. ↑ DSA membership letter Oct 24 1984
  14. ↑ New York review of books, Vol 34, Number 10, June 11, 1987
  15. ↑ http://mhconline.org/about-the-center
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