Remapping the American Left

Abstract

Is the American Left reemerging as a political force? Suddenly there are socialists in Congress, socialists on city councils, socialists in the Democratic Party, and much of the media has taken up the question of whether the Democratic Party is swinging to the left. If we are indeed seeing a new surge to the left and new phase of American radicalism, it would not be the first time. This is something that has happened repeatedly in the past century. The particulars are new, but the cycles of movement reinvention appear to be a feature of American politics, one that historians have not adequately explored. American radicalism has been a vexing subject for many years. It was not long ago that historians could do little more than grieve, framing the subject as a story of failures and asking whynot questions. Why was there no revolution? Why wasn’t the US Left more like the European Left or the Canadian Left? Why did the Socialist Party fall apart? Why did the New Left fade? No longer. Books by Paul Buhle, Richard Flacks, Michael Kazin, Doug Rossinow, Howard Brick, Christopher Phelps, Rhodri JeffreyJones, and Dawson Barrett have changed the tone, examining accomplishments as well as limitations, arguing that the Left has initiated significant transformations, especially involving the rights of previously excluded populations, while a century of radical action has also changed the dimensions of the civic sphere and democratic practice by fostering a culture of activism. The newer books do so in