TheNew American Movement (NAM) was an AmericanNew Leftmulti-tendencysocialist andfeministpolitical organization established in 1971.

The NAM continued an independent existence until 1983, when it merged withMichael Harrington'sDemocratic Socialist Organizing Committee to establish theDemocratic Socialists of America.

The NAM was established at a conference held inDavenport, Iowa in December 1971 by radical political activists seeking to create a successor organization toStudents for a Democratic Society (SDS).^[1] SDS, the leading organization of theNew Left movement in the United States, had recently disintegrated into warring political sects and the need was perceived for a broad-based new organization free of sectarian rancor.

The founding activists behind the NAM were vigorousopponents of the war in Vietnam who sought a new organization to serve as a forum for discussing where and how to redirect their activities. The call to convene was issued byMichael Lerner. Lerner became distant from the organization shortly after it was founded and went on to start the magazineTikkun.

In its early years, the NAM shared much of the political framework of theNew Communist Movement, but rejected the strategy of building a "vanguard party", a position prominent NAM members defended in a debate in the pages ofThe Guardian. The organization was built around local groups called "chapters" which emphasizedMarxist study, discussion of contemporary issues, support of local labor actions and work in the community to raise awareness.

The national headquarters of NAM were located inChicago.

By the early 1980s, after a great change in the American political climate and the departure of some of its more radical members, the NAM had moved away from its original neo-Leninist orientation. It adopted a more traditionallysocial democratic outlook, culminating in a merger with theDemocratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) in 1982 to form theDemocratic Socialists of America (DSA).^[2] At the time of the merger, the NAM claimed 2,500 members.^[3]

Richard Healey, son of Los AngelesCommunist Party USA (CPUSA) leaderDorothy Healey, was a NAM leader from its founding in 1971. After his mother resigned from the CPUSA in 1973, Healey worked on recruiting her to the NAM, which she joined in 1974. In 1975, Dorothy joined Richard on the NAM's National Interim Committee and later became a Vice Chair of the DSA in 1982.^[4]

The NAM made use of comparatively high membership dues which were tiered on the basis of the member's income. According to one analyst, total membership of the organization never exceeded 1,500 at any point in the group's existence.^[1] Membership was based almost wholly in large metropolitan areas and on college campuses.^[1] NAM activity often took the form of a group study circle dedicated to the collective study of Marxist or feminist writings. The group was ultimately hampered by its limited size and seeming inability to progress beyond the realm of doctrinal discourse into the world of practical politics.^[1]

The NAM's official organ was a magazine calledMovin' On. The independent journalsRadical America andSocialist Revolution (laterSocialist Review) were also vaguely associated with the NAM as were the weekly independent socialist newspapersThe Guardian andIn These Times which had their share of supporters both within NAM and in other radical groups.

In addition to its magazine, the NAM produced several other targeted publications, including theReproductive Rights Newsletter, dedicated to organizing to preserve women's rights of access tocontraception andabortion, theAnti-Racism Bulletin andWomen Organizing, a publication launched in 1979 and dedicated to questions of feminist organizing.^[5]

The NAM continued an independent existence until March 1983, when it voted to merge withMichael Harrington'sDemocratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) to establish theDemocratic Socialists of America (DSA).^[6]

• Hannah Frisch, et al.,Working Papers on Gay-Lesbian Liberation and Socialism. Chicago: New American Movement, 1979.
• Glenn Scott (ed.),Anti-Racism Bulletin, Chicago, Illinois: New American Movement Anti-Racism Commission, Summer 1980.
• Glenn Scott,Undocumented Workers: Are They the Problem? Chicago, Illinois: New American Movement, October 1977.

• Stanley Aronowitz,The Death and Rebirth of American Radicalism. New York: Routledge, 1996.
• Victor Cohen (ed.)"The New American Movement: An Oral History,"Works and Days, Vol. 28, Nos. 1 and 2, whole number 55/56 (Spring/Fall 2010).
• Victor Cohen,"The New American Movement and the Los Angeles Socialist Community School,"Minnesota Review, No. 69 (Fall/Winter 2007).
• Arnold James Oliver, Jr.,American Socialist Strategy in Transition: The New American Movement and Electoral Politics, 1972-1982. PhD dissertation. University of Colorado at Boulder, 1983.
• Ronald Radosh,Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2001.

• New American Movement Records atTamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University Special Collections

• Democratic Socialists of America
• Multi-tendency organizations in the United States
• New Left
• New American Movement

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