AMERICAN RADICALISM: HISTORY 351
Daniel Pope
Class Meets: MW 14:00-15:20 Office Hours: Mon. 3:30-5:00 and Thurs. 2:30-3:30
Office: 331 McKenzie Hall 346-4015
dapope@uoregon.edu
GTF: Jurgen Ruckaberle Office Hours:
jruckabe@uoregon.edu TBA
History 351 is the second term of a two-term sequence on the history of American radical movement and ideas. This term we will deal with topics in American radicalism since about 1900. History 350 is not a prerequisite.
I do not assume that students in this class have any previous course work in American history. If at some point you find yourself unfamiliar with terminology, events, people, etc. mentioned in class or in the reading, don't hesitate to check with me. I should be able to explain it to you or refer you to some brief background reading.
Discussion of the topics we cover this term is an important part of the course. The political, social and ethical implications of the material will, I hope, be of personal as well as intellectual interest to you. Because the class is likely to be large, I'll be lecturing a good deal of the time, but I encourage you to ask questions and make comments. Discussion will be most fruitful for all if people keep up with the reading assignments as much as possible.
Note: This syllabus is on line at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dapope/351syl--w07.htm . I strongly suggest you bookmark it. Before each class session, the syllabus will contain a link to the outline or PowerPoint presentation for that day.
BOOKS
You should acquire the following books. They have been ordered at the University Bookstore, and used copies of some are probably available at Smith Family. I will also try to have copies on reserve in the library.
Emma Goldman Anarchism and Other Essays
John Steinbeck In Dubious Battle
Doug Rossinow The Politics of Authenticity
Susan Zakin Coyotes and Town Dogs: Earth First! and the Environmental Movement [Note: The bookstore may not be able to obtain enough copies of this book for the whole class, since it is going out of print. At last check, there were a few copies at Smith Family Bookstore (in the Ecology section) and quite a few copies on line at amazon.com and other book websites.
You also may find a couple of other books (Candace Falk, Love, Anarchy and Emma Goldman and James Weinstein, The Long Detour ) on the shelves for this course. Don't buy them now. These are options for the short paper due in March.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. A brief website or video review (about two pages typed double-spaced). Instructions now on line at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dapope/351webvideo--w07.htm . Due Mon., Jan. 29 at class time. Worth about 10% of the course grade.
2. Midterm examination (Monday, Feb. 12): One essay plus short identifications. Worth about 25% of course grade.
3 A short paper (4 to 7 pages typed double-spaced): Due Wednesday, March 7 at class time. Paper is worth about 25% of course grade. Options and instructions for this paper will be online soon.
4. Final exam: Two essays plus short identifications. Final is worth about 40% of course grade. The final is scheduled at 3:15 Thursday, March 22. I'll provide a take-home option which will be due at the same time as the in-class exam or can be submitted earlier.
Grading is not rigidly based on written work. Valuable class participation, improvement during the term, an exceptionally good piece of work on a particular assignment, etc. may all play a role in determining your grade.
CLASS SESSIONS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Note: Links to class session outlines will be normally posted on this web page by class time.
Jan. 8: Introduction--Some General Themes
Start reading Goldman, Anarchism... , pp.v-xiv, 47-108, 177-240 (pp.1-40 are optional but suggested); three short pieces by Eugene V. Debs: 1) " Socialist Party Appeal 1912 " 2) " Danger Ahead" The Negro in the Class Struggle " 3) " Jesus, the Supreme Leader "; three short essays on the Industrial Workers of the World , "The Revolutionary IWW", "How Scabs are Bred" and "The Constructive Program of the IWW." (all on same webpage).
[Note: The Goldman book is available on line here . Assigned essays are: “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For”, “Minorities versus Majorities”, “The Psychology of Political Violence”, “The Traffic in Women”, “Women Suffrage”, “The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation” and “Marriage and Love.”]
Optional: "The Nature and Significance of American Radicalism," on line here . This is a slightly-revised version of an essay I wrote for a book I edited.
We will talk about defining "radicalism" and about differences between twentieth-century radical movements and earlier ones. We will also pose some of the questions that we will try to respond to during the term: Has American affluence been a barrier to radical success? What is the relationship between reform and radical change? What kinds of organizational forms work best for movements for social change? What is the relationship between political and cultural change? What roles have racism and sexism played in the modern history of American radicalism?
Jan. 10-24: The Radical Left in the Early Twentieth Century-- Socialism, Militant Labor, Anarchism and Feminism
Finish reading Goldman, Debs and IWW assignment listed above
A complex of radical movements flourished in the years before World War I. Although we will focus on the life and ideas of Emma Goldman, America 's leading advocate of anarchism, we will also consider the most dramatic example of radicalism within the labor movement, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Socialist Party of America, which reached its height of political influence in these years. In particular, Goldman's life provides an opportunity to discuss the relationship between personal life and social change.
Jan. 29-Feb. 7 The Great Depression and The "Old Left": Strategies, Successes and Failures
Read: John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle
Also read Robin Kelley, "We Are Not What We Seem: Rethinking Black Working Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History, vol. 80, no. 1 (1993): 75-112, online. [Let me know if you have trouble accessing this on line. You may first have to go to the Journal of American History online entry in the UO library catalogue, then to JSTOR and then search for this article. Try the link above first, however.]
If, as many have claimed, prosperity has doomed radicalism in the United States , why wasn't there a revolution in the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the economy was in shambles for a decade? What did radical movements accomplish in the 1930s? Is it possible that their strategies ultimately strengthened the system they were trying to overthrow? Reading John Steinbeck's vivid novel In Dubious Battle will allow us to discuss both the effectiveness and the morality of left-wing strategies and tactics.
Feb. 12 : MIDTERM EXAM
Feb. 14-26: Movements of the Sixties--Social Change and the New Left
Read: Rossinow, The Politics of Authenticity (Chapters 3 and 7 are optional; the rest are required)
The eruption of protest in the 1960s was one of the more remarkable surprises in American history. In the movement for African American freedom, in opposition to the war in Vietnam and in a host of other struggles, a "New Left" made its mark. But the decade was also notable for a proliferation of radical social movements--struggles of peoples of color, of women, of gay men and lesbians, and many others intersected, often uneasily, with the predominantly white, college-based New Left.
Feb. 28-March 14: New Social Movements since the Sixties
Read:Zakin, Coyotes and Town Dogs. Prologue and chapters 7-16 are required; chapters 1-6 are optional
Despite claims that radicalism is dead, social movements at the end of the twentieth century have posed important challenges to the status quo. The reading will focus on Earth First! and radical environmentalism but we'll also discuss movements ranging from anti-globalization activism to demands for respect and recognition from groups that have faced marginalization and stigmatization. What is the relationship between the new sociological and cultural patterns of our era and the movements that seek to alter those patterns?
History 351
Winter 2007