Prof. Discusses Future of Left

Harvard Professor of Sociology Theda Skocpol told a small group yesterday that the political left should assume a more intellectual role in American politics.

"My proposal is to make the left the place where the most interesting discussions are taking place," Skocpol said.

The speech was sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Democratic Socialists of America (HRDSA) in the hope of "encouraging discussion about the underlying links to social problems," said Daniel N. Baer '91, who helped to organize the speech.

Skocpol, author of the book States and social Revolutions, began by identifying what she felt were the achievements of the Reagan Revolution.

The Reagan administration's "greatest accomplishment, I think, has been the undermining of people's confidence that government can do things," said Skocpol. "They suceeded in raising doubt about their own efficiency."

The expectations of government were lowered, allowing "the free market, small central government, [and] Republican ideas to take hold," Skocpol said.

Skocpol also emphasized what she felt were outward signs of uncertainty from the new Bush administration. She cited Bush's new rhetoric on child care, Jack Kemp's on a housing solution, and Elizabeth Dole's backing of certain unions as signals that the "time is ripe for Democratic Socialists to mobilize public opinion."

She recommended that the Democratic Socialist movement not get caught up on "zero-sum social issues like apartheid, unions, and racial justice" that, while important to the movement, unfairly stereotyped their goals. She cited new issues that she believed the left should discuss such as family issues, the transitions of the American economy and the concept of full employment.

Skocpol, who was initially denied tenure by the Sociology Department, filed a grievance in 1981 charging that she was denied a post because she is a woman. Her suit lasted for five years--after which, in an unrelated incident, President Bok granted her tenure.

HRDSA is a group of students dedicated "most immediately to providing a much needed outlet for multi-issue socially progressive forums," said Baer. The group is an off-shoot of the original Harvard-Radcliffe Democratic Socialists established in 1971, and is affiliated with the national organization by the same name.