Get Involved

Want to get involved with Princeton YDSA? Just sign our petition for fair working conditions at Princeton here and check the box to join our mailing list! You’ll be up-to-date on our meeting times, actions and events, and our GroupMe chat. Contact ydsa@princeton.edu for any questions.

The bulk of our work comes from the working groups:

Ecosocialism

Coordinator: Lake Liao

Capitalism is incompatible with the survival of our planet! The ultimate goal of the group is to help create a society that prioritizes the formation of democratically-controlled renewable energy and efficient mass public transit infrastructure, the defense of indigenous rights, and the welfare of all people over profit and corporate interests.

The Ecosocialism WG is currently focused on building public renewables and public transit in New Jersey, and rejecting Princeton University’s financial involvement in lithium extraction in indigenous territories.

Labor

Coordinator: Bryce Springfield

Workers must sell their labor power to survive–it determines our relation to production, and is the primary battleground for improving working class conditions and changing the organization of production. We work to build labor union power as a step toward complete ownership and democratic control of production by workers, and more dignity for working-class people.

The Labor WG is currently focused on supporting Princeton University workers facing declining real wages and restrictions to their freedom of expression, as well as striking UAW and Starbucks workers. Please contact us if you are an undergraduate worker or a staff worker, as we are collecting information about working conditions!

Political Education

Coordinators: Zeke Douglas-Rosenthal and Rowan Johnson

We seek to educate our comrades and peers on the realities of our capitalist system; strategies for organizing for justice in labor, ecology, racial justice, housing, and international affairs; and more. Our Socialist Book Club involves reading about socialist theory and practice at our weekly meetings; our current reading is Albert Einstein’s “Why Socialism?”

We also bring in speakers like Sara Mughal of Starbucks Workers United, Noam Chomsky, and left economists Ellora Derenoncourt, Mark Paul, and Santana Frutuoso. We also support each other through skill sharing, trainings, and internal debates to build organizing power and education.

Racial Justice

Coordinator: Abdul-Bassit Fijabi

The capitalist system is not merely about class alone, but also its intersection oppressions involving race. We see this in the Black Lives Matter movement, which highlights how police and prisons coordinate to target and commit violence against vulnerable communities and carry out systemic racism; with Stop Cop City, the movement to end playgrounds for police to train for urban warfare; in our immigration system which commits violence every day against migrants and discriminates against migrant workers; and in the US’s military aid to some of the most egregious human rights offenders on the planet.

We have cosponsored events supporting the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights and Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights in New Jersey and participated in Jewish- and Palestinian-led protests to end US aid supporting the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. We also plan to coordinate activities to stand in solidarity with Atlanta activists and say NO to the construction of Cop City, so stay tuned!

University Democracy

Coordinator: Abigail Leibowitz

Princeton University is fundamentally an authoritarian institution that rejects principles of democracy and free speech at every turn. Even where some members of the Board of Trustees are elected by a limited group of seniors and alumni, and where undergraduate referenda take place, candidates are restricted from campaigning on any concrete principles and referenda have no enforcement mechanism. Furthermore, restrictions on free speech are painfully felt by both student activists and campus workers.

As democratic socialists, we strive to push for democracy of and by students and workers on campus. Capitalist and autocratic structures, as well as restrictions on students’ and workers’ free expression, are fundamentally incompatible with our democratic principles. The University Democracy WG aims to challenge the Board of Trustees and organize for freedom and democracy.