Coalitionists believe the path to building popular power runs through alliances with the leftmost factions of the liberal and progressive establishment-- and, in some cases, with segments of the ruling class itself.

This strategy emphasizes working inside broad coalitions, influencing existing institutions, and leveraging relationships with progressive elected officials, labor leadership, and even progressive capital.

Autonomists, on the other hand, prioritize building independent working-class institution--our own candidates, our own labor leaders, our own unions, our own tenant organizations.

This camp sees reliance on liberal or progressive leaders, and especially on progressive capital, as a strategic vulnerability that ultimately limits the socialist movement’s capacity to act in its own interest.

This isn’t the only fault line. There’s also a significant debate about what “mass organizing” should look like. Is it a vehicle for ideological and electoral realignment, shifting the existing political landscape from within?

Or is it fundamentally about building associational power—creating durable organizations rooted in everyday life that can outlast electoral cycles?

While these questions are distinct, they feed into the broader Coalitionist–Autonomist divide. Even within each camp, there are sharp disagreements about which coalitions to enter into or which independent institutions to prioritize.

The result is not two neat tendency, but a spectrum of positions with recurring points of friction.

Will add that some antagonisms are completely unrelated to this central antagonism. The internationalist question for instance fractures the left quite a bit.

@Sulliedsubjects Exactly you're really good at explaining it (Also if you want a different term instead of "autonomist" I think "Partyist" might be a good term instead of autonomist but still it's not the most perfect term but still a really good breakdown of it)

@OGnmcommie I think partying only cover some of the left of DSA like red star and mug but doesn’t cover others like emerge and commie caucus while autonomist cover most

@Sulliedsubjects I don't know that those in the electoral-focused camps would uniformly agree that coalitions are inherent to their strategy. Ultimately it seems to be the state itself that is the crux of the matter - whether to co-opt/take it over, or build outside and dismantle it entirely.

@ltothewang I see many on the left / non electoral who are open to coop take over the state as well

@Sulliedsubjects Can you give example of a campaign you were involved that used the autonomic approach? Where does the Zorhan campaign fall in this?

@BuildJacobin I think the 'autononist' core of DSA revolve around labor and tenant organizng. I certainly think DSA would benefits from more form of associational powerbuilding.

@Sulliedsubjects I think it’s really helpful and much more productive to think through divides like these rather than “right vs left”!

@Sulliedsubjects Yeah I think this gets at a lot of it

@Sulliedsubjects Havent been involved in DSA in years, but this is a productive way more generally of thinking about the the various currents of American Marxism.