History 351: American Radicalism
Fall 2009

Class meets 10:00-11:20 Tuesdays/Thursdays in 207 Chapman.

Instructor: Daniel Pope, 331 McKenzie, 346-4015, dapope@uoregon.edu
                Office Hours 10:00-12:00 Mon. and 1:00-2:30 Thurs., or by appointment.

GTFs: Martha Gregor, gregor@uoregon.edu, 340P McKenzie, 346-5908
                Office Hours 3:00-5:00 Wed. or by appointment

Clinton Sandvick, csandvic@uoregon.edu, 340T McKenzie, 346-4821
Office Hours 9:00-10:00 Tues. and Thurs. or by appointment
----------------------------
Note: This syllabus is on line at http://www.uoregon.edu/~dapope/351syllabus.htm. I strongly suggest you bookmark it. You will also be able to reach it on Blackboard. Before each class session, the syllabus will contain a link to the outline or PowerPoint presentation for that day.  Outline for Sept. 29 class   PowerPoint for Oct. 1 class            Oct. 6 PowerPoint       (Oct. 8--video showing, no PowerPoint)        
Oct. 13 PowerPoint     Oct. 15 PowerPoint     Notes on 1930s readings        Oct. 20 PowerPoint     Oct. 22 PowerPoint      New!: Midterm Instructions and Essay Questions      Oct. 27 PowerPoint                             Oct. 29 PowerPoint             Nov. 5 PowerPoint      Nov. 10 PowerPoint    New: Study notes and questions on 1960s readings          Nov. 12 PowerPoint    Nov. 17 PowerPoint      Nov. 19 PowerPoint              New: Study Notes and Questions on Nordhaus and Shellenberger, Break Through       Nov. 24 PowerPoint
----------------------------

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 and is not offered in 2009-10.

 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.

Course Requirements:
1. A brief review (about two pages typed double-spaced) of the PBS American Experience video on Emma Goldman. Instructions here. Due Thursday, Oct. 15 revised: Tuesday, Oct. 20 at class time.  Worth about 10% of the course grade.

2. Midterm examination (Tues., Nov. 3): One essay plus short identifications. Worth about 25% of course grade.

3. A short paper (4 to 7 pages typed double-spaced): Due Tues., Nov. 24 at class time. Paper is worth about 25% of course grade. Options for the paper are now online at http://www.uoregon.edu/~dapope/351papertopics--fall09.htm.

4. Final exam: Two essays plus short identifications. Final is worth about 40% of course grade. The final is scheduled for Tues., Dec. 8, 8:00-10:00. 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.

Books: I’ve ordered the following at the UO Bookstore. These are all required reading. You may be able to find used copies on line or at local used bookstores:

                Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (Note: this book also is available online at http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/goldman/GoldmanCW.html.)

                John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle

                Felicia Kornbluh, The Battle for Welfare Rights

                Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, Break Through: Why We Can’t Leave Saving the Planet to the Environmentalists [Note: There’s an earlier edition of this book with a different subtitle: Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. It’s an acceptable substitute for the later edition, so get it if it saves you a little money.]

Sept. 29 Introduction: Defining Radicalism

The Radical Left in the Early 20th Century: Socialism, Anarchism, Feminism and Militant Labor:
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.

Oct. 1 Early 20th Century Socialism and the American Experience
                Optional reading: "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.

Oct. 6 Varieties of Anti-Capitalist Movements: Socialism, the IWW, American Anarchism
                By this date, read three very short pieces by Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs (all online): “Socialist Party Appeal 1912”;  “The Negro in the Class Struggle”;  “Jesus the Supreme Leader”. Also read three very short pieces about the Industrial Workers of the World (the “Wobblies”): These are all on the same webpage, here: “The Revolutionary IWW”; “How Scabs Are Bred”; “The Constructive Program of the IWW.”              

Oct. 8 Emma Goldman--PBS “American Experience” series video

Oct. 13 Goldman, Anarchism and Revolution
                By this date, read “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For”; “Minorities vs. Majorities” and “The Psychology of Political Violence” in Anarchism and Other Essays.

Oct. 15 Goldman and Cultural Radicalism     NEW: Some study notes and questions on 1930s readings (Steinbeck and Kelley)
                VIDEO REVIEW DUE AT CLASSTIME.
                By this date (Oct. 15), read “The Traffic in Women”; “Women Suffrage”; “The Tragedy of Women’s Emancipation”; “Marriage and Love” in Anarchism and Other Essays.

Radicalism and the Great Depression: Whatever Happened to the Revolution?
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.

Oct. 20 From the “Lyrical Left” to the “Old Left”
                By this date start reading  John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle, and 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.  NOTE: If you are accessing this from off-campus, try this link: http://libproxy.uoregon.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2079698.pdf. This should take you to a login page. Use your duckID and password as if you were logging on to Blackboard. If you don’t have a duckID for some reason, try the alternative method of logging in at the bottom of your screen. After you’re logged in, you should be taken to the PDF of the article.

Oct. 22 Depression Conditions and Radical Possibilities       New!: Midterm Instructions and Essay Questions

Oct. 27 A New Labor Movement and Communism in the 1930s     

Oct. 29 Farm Workers: California Dreams and Nightmares
                By this date, finish Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle, and Kelley, “We Are Not What We Seem”. [From off-campus, use this link: http://libproxy.uoregon.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2079698.pdf and login with your duckID and password.]

Nov. 3 MIDTERM EXAM

Movements of the 1960s: The “New Left” and Beyond:
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.

Nov. 5 Movements of the 1960s: Revolution without the Proletariat?
                By this date, read Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), “Port Huron Statement” (1962). Start reading Felicia Kornbluh, The Battle for Welfare Rights.

Nov. 10 Phases of New Left Development     New: Study notes and questions on 1960s readings

Nov. 12 Phases of New Left Development (continued)

Nov. 17 Berkeley in the Sixties/Analyzing the Decade
                By this date, finish Kornbluh, The Battle for Welfare Rights

New Social Movements in Contemporary America:
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 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?

Nov. 19 The Struggle for Welfare Rights
                Start reading Nordhaus and Shellenberger, Break Through: Why We Can’t Leave Saving the Planet to the Environmentalists. Introduction and Part One (pp.1-154)  and pp.256-273 are required. The rest of Part Two is recommended but not required.

Nov. 24 New Social Movements: Feminism
                PAPERS DUE AT CLASSTIME.

Nov. 26 THANKSGIVING

Dec. 1 Radical Environmentalism as a New Social Movement
                By this date, finish Break Through, Introduction and Part I.

Dec. 3 New Social Movements and Some Guesses about the Future
                By this date, read commentaries on Nordhaus and Shellenberger’s original essay (“The Death of Environmentalism”): 1) Comments by four environmental group leaders; 2) Comment by an environmental justice movement activist.

Final Exam: Tues., Dec. 8, 8:00-10:00.