Democratic Socialists of America holds panel calling for dismantling of ‘inherently repressive’ and ‘racist’ nuclear family

The panel, titled “The Left and the Family: A Roundtable,” took place on July 4 and was part of the Socialism Conference in Chicago. The video was uploaded to YouTube on Friday, and DSA wrote in the caption that the nuclear family is “an inherently repressive, racist, and hetero-sexist institution that functionally reinforces and reproduces capitalism.”

Speakers included Emily Janakiram of New York City for Abortion Rights, University of Chicago sociologist Eman Abdelhadi, Katie Gibson of the University of Chicago, and BDS activist and Portland DSA member Olivia Katbi. Throughout the discussion, panelists linked capitalism and the nuclear family, calling both oppressive systems in need of transformation.

Katie Gibson claimed that children born into low-income families are “treated as if they have committed a crime,” and criticized the legal authority of parents, saying, “If you are born into a home headed by a Christian fundamentalist tyrant, for instance, you have the rights that that Christian fundamentalist tyrant gives you.” She also drew a comparison to President Donald Trump as a tyrant for children under state care.

Janakiram invoked a quote from Burkina Faso revolutionary Thomas Sankara, saying, “The only real difference between marriage and prostitution is the price and duration of the contract,” calling into question the legitimacy of marriage. She also asserted, “The institution of marriage can only exist alongside the criminalization of sex workers,” and added, “Women lead the fight against capitalism and imperialism, period.”

Abdelhadi, who appeared to portray herself as the more “moderate” panelist, still pushed beliefs that were in line with the family abolition sentiment of the event. She quoted a sociologist who said, “Other countries have welfare states. The US has women,” which drew approving laughter from the audience. Abdelhadi described women as the “permanent precariat” responsible for “all the work the state is refusing to do.”

“I’m ambivalent about whether we use the F word [family] or not,” Abdelhadi said. “But I think for me it’s about focusing on policies, right, and being really clear about what material benefits we are gonna give people.” She emphasized that the Republican Party provides a “narrative,” and that the left must offer a competing one with clear policy aims. She later applauded far-left proposals in line with New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, saying, “All of that stands out for me as the kind of work that we need to be doing.”

Abdelhadi briefly commented about Islam in America and refuted the argument that Muslim beliefs contradict DSA’s worldview. Abdelhadi claimed the community is largely “progressive and permissive” on issues like “queer rights and trans rights,” but is overshadowed by a “loud minority.”

During a Q&A session, one self-identified Baptist minister from Austin, a DSA member in attendance, told the panel he wants to “perform abortions at a church” as part of the “revolutionary horizon.” Another attendee asked about black feminism and previous injustices in the US, to which Abdelhadi responded by making her stance clear on the abolition of the nuclear family.

“What we actually mean is the nuclear family as an economic unit…the way we live now, who your parents are, who you partner with, how many children you have—these are all economic conditions,” she said. Abdelhadi described a future “liberatory horizon” in which food, housing, education, and care are collectivized. She also claimed that groups “disposable to capitalism,” like black women and indigenous communities, have already modeled this and the world should follow suit.