Read The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter

The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter

Michael Rogin

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Description:The late Joseph McCarthy left a permanent mark on American political life. But the meaning and depth of that mark has been obscured. A major theme of this important study is that McCarthy did not suppress or stifle political thinking so much as he radically transformed it. A large block of American intellectuals evolved an original theory of politics in reaction to McCarthyism. The author states that, "A loosely coherent social theory, substantially concerned with comprehending McCarthyism, emerged in the 1950's. My interest is in that social theory, as it explains McCarthy, as it reinterprets the reform tradition, as it refracts American history through the myopia of a traumatized intelligentsia."Many American intellectuals found McCarthy's roots in the agrarian radical tradition--emerging from Populists, La Follette progressives, the Non-Partisan League. During the McCarthy years, the term 'radical Right' began making its appearance in liberal circles. Liberal intellectuals became suspicious of popular movements; the mass of people, they felt, could not be trusted to support beneficial social policies. The populace seemed more preoccupied with suspicion of the educated, the cosmopolitan, the alien. Established political elites and institutions seemed to provide surer safeguards for constitutional values. In this connection, the author discusses the responses of such men as Richard Hofstadter, Seymour Martin Lipset, Daniel Bell, Edward Shils, Oscar Handling, Peter Viereck, and William Kornhauser.But the evidence, Rogin contends, does not support the view that McCarthyism grew from agrarian radical soil, and his study examines how McCarthyism was neither a radical movement outside of 'normal' American politics nor a cause that drew its strength from the mobilization of masses.The book concludes by suggesting that fear of popular uprisings and radical protest has divorced political analysis from the specific issues around which protest forms. These issues determine whether mass movements will be dangerous or valuable. Ignoring the issues of politics, Rogin argues, leads to a reliance on established institutions unhealthy and unrealistic in a free society.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter. To get started finding The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
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Pages: 384

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: M.I.T. Press

Release: —

ISBN: 0262180200

Description: The late Joseph McCarthy left a permanent mark on American political life. But the meaning and depth of that mark has been obscured. A major theme of this important study is that McCarthy did not suppress or stifle political thinking so much as he radically transformed it. A large block of American intellectuals evolved an original theory of politics in reaction to McCarthyism. The author states that, "A loosely coherent social theory, substantially concerned with comprehending McCarthyism, emerged in the 1950's. My interest is in that social theory, as it explains McCarthy, as it reinterprets the reform tradition, as it refracts American history through the myopia of a traumatized intelligentsia."Many American intellectuals found McCarthy's roots in the agrarian radical tradition--emerging from Populists, La Follette progressives, the Non-Partisan League. During the McCarthy years, the term 'radical Right' began making its appearance in liberal circles. Liberal intellectuals became suspicious of popular movements; the mass of people, they felt, could not be trusted to support beneficial social policies. The populace seemed more preoccupied with suspicion of the educated, the cosmopolitan, the alien. Established political elites and institutions seemed to provide surer safeguards for constitutional values. In this connection, the author discusses the responses of such men as Richard Hofstadter, Seymour Martin Lipset, Daniel Bell, Edward Shils, Oscar Handling, Peter Viereck, and William Kornhauser.But the evidence, Rogin contends, does not support the view that McCarthyism grew from agrarian radical soil, and his study examines how McCarthyism was neither a radical movement outside of 'normal' American politics nor a cause that drew its strength from the mobilization of masses.The book concludes by suggesting that fear of popular uprisings and radical protest has divorced political analysis from the specific issues around which protest forms. These issues determine whether mass movements will be dangerous or valuable. Ignoring the issues of politics, Rogin argues, leads to a reliance on established institutions unhealthy and unrealistic in a free society.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter. To get started finding The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter

The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter

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