Spiritual Socialists: Religion and the American Left

Vaneesa Cook argues that spiritual socialism, which emphasizes the social side of socialism and the spiritual and cultural meaning of socialist principles, has helped make leftist thought more palatable to Americans. She highlights the lives and works of activists such as Sherwood Eddy, A. J. Muste, Myles Horton, Dorothy Day, Henry Wallace, Pauli Murray, Staughton Lynd, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who believed that equality, cooperation, and peace could only develop through grass-roots organizing and treating each other better in everyday life. Contemporary public figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders, Pope Francis, Reverend William Barber, and Cornel West exemplify this tradition.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 03 April 2023
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

The common belief that the American left has a religion problem is refuted by Vaneesa Cook, who emphasizes an important but overlooked intellectual and political tradition known as spiritual socialism. Spiritual socialists placed a strong emphasis on the social aspect of socialism and held that the most fundamental manifestation of religious values was the care for the sick, weary, hungry, and exploited members of one's community. Their unconventional interpretation of the spiritual and cultural significance of socialist principles made leftist thought more appealing to Americans, who associated socialism with Soviet atheism and autocracy. As a result, spiritual socialism continually pressured liberals, conservatives, and Marxists to address the essential connection between morality and social justice. Cook's narrative is told through an eclectic group of activists whose lives and works span the twentieth century. Activists such as Sherwood Eddy, A. J. Muste, Myles Horton, Dorothy Day, Henry Wallace, Pauli Murray, Staughton Lynd, and Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke and wrote publicly about the relationship between religious values and socialism. They argued that equality, cooperation, and peace would not develop overnight and that a more humane society would never emerge through top-down legislation. Instead, they believed that the process of their vision of the world had to happen in homes, villages, and cities, from the bottom up. By insisting that people start treating each other better in everyday life, spiritual socialists transformed radical activism from projects of political policy-making to grass-roots organizing. Cook believes that contemporary public figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders, Pope Francis, Reverend William Barber, and Cornel West are part of a long-standing tradition that exemplifies how non-Communists have contributed to the development of spiritual socialism.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781512824452