We're Coming for You and Your Rotten System: How Socialists Beat Amazon and Upended Big-City Politics

Labor rights activist Rosenblum (Beyond $15) recollects in this perceptive and detailed insider account how socialists in 2010s Seattle won major legislative victories that galvanized similar movements across the country. The narrative is centered on Kshama Sawant, a software engineer and socialist who in 2013 became an “extreme long-shot challenger” to the Seattle City Council’s incumbent president. With the support of a grassroots movement mobilized by the fight for a minimum wage increase, Sawant won the City Council seat and served from 2014 to 2024 despite the Democratic establishment’s many attempts to oust her, including a contentious 2021 recall vote. During her tenure, Sawant led successful battles to secure the nation’s first $15/hour minimum wage, tax Amazon and other large Seattle-based corporations, and protect renters’ rights. While the city’s Democratic politicians often publicly claimed to support such issues, behind the scenes they would “reliably” work against Sawant’s efforts in order to please donors and lobbyists, Rosenblum writes. So, rather than making nice with fellow politicians, Sawant instead focused on activating members of the working class who were disengaged with politics, even forming unexpected alliances with conservative union organizers—an approach that Rosenblum, who worked on Sawant’s council staff, offers as a core takeaway as he breaks down the lessons of the Seattle socialists’ victories. It’s an inspiring story and a useful tool for activists.(Oct.)