Seweryn Bialer - Radicalism in the Contemporary Age, Volume 1: Sources of Contemporary Radicalism

Zbigniew Brzezinski, series editor

Zbigniew Brzezinski is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of the Research Institute on International Change at Columbia University, where he has taught since 1960. Dr. Brzezinski serves also in the Carter administration as assistant to the president for national security affairs.

Seweryn Bialer and Sophia Sluzar, editors

To understand contemporary society, it has become more and more essential to understand the phenomenon of radicalismthe aspirations of radical movements, the strategies and tactics of radicalism, and the impact of radicalism on contemporary society. Radicalism in the Contemporary Age grew out of the recognition of this need. A study in three volumes, it is based on original papers that were prepared for a series of workshops held in 1975 at the Research Institute on International Change, Columbia University, and then revised in light of the workshop discussions.

This volume, Sources of Contemporary Radicalism, begins with Seweryn Bialer's examination of the definitional aspects of radicalism, as well as with the identification of specific contemporary sources of the radical impulse and the social groups that are the carriers of radicalism within society. In the next two chapters, Seymour Lipset and Stanley Rothman consider the case of the United States. Lipset asks anew the question posed by Werner Sombart at the beginning of this century: "Why is there no socialism in the United States?" From the perspective of a century of literature addressed to this question, he provides his own critique and explanation. Rothman considers the relatively new phenomenon of student radicalism in the United States, and, on the basis of interviews with student activists and results of tests they agreed to take, he offers hypotheses concerning their psychological motivation. Sidney Tarrow's chapter presents a comparison and contrast of the societal sources contributing to the growth of radical movements in post-World War II France and Italy. Henry Landsberger, in his chapter, concentrates on one societal group, the peasantry. Landsberger addresses the methodological issue that arises in defining peasant discontent as radicalism, and examines what it is that provides a "new" dimension to peasant discontent in modern times. In the final chapter, William Overholt presents a valuable interpretative survey of the literature on radicalism.

Radical Visions of the Future, the second volume of this study, treats the visionary component of radicalism, the component that encompasses an image of the "good society" and that provides inspiration and possibly even direction to a radical movement in its combat with the existing order.

The third volume, Strategies and Impact of Contemporary Radicalism, deals principally with three themes: the models and strategies of revolutionary change adopted by diverse radical movements; the impact of radicalism on the societies where it exists; and the prospects of radical success in the political arena.

* * *

Seweryn Bialer, an expert on comparative communism and revolutionary change, teaches in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University and is director of programs at the Research Institute on International Change.

Sophia Sluzar is assistant director of the Research Institute on International Change. A doctoral candidate in Columbia University's Department of History, she has taught modern European history at Pace College for four years.

Radicalism in the Contemporary Age, Volume 2
Radical Visions of the Future
Seweryn Bialer and Sophia Sluzar, editors

Radicalism in the Contemporary Age, Volume 3
Strategies and Impact of Contemporary Radicalism
Seweryn Bialer and Sophia Sluzar, editors

Asia's Nuclear Future
William H. Overholt, editor

The Relevance of Liberalism
Staff of the Research Institute on International Change, editors

A Theory of Revolution
William H. Overholt

Seweryn Bialer, editor
Sophia Sluzar, associate editor

Volume 1

Sources of Contemporary Radicalism

CONTRIBUTORS

SEWERYN BIALER
SEYMOUR MARTIN LIPSET
STANLEY ROTHMAN
HENRY A. LANDSBERGER
WILLIAM H. OVERHOLT
SIDNEY TARROW

PREFACE BY ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI

First published 1977 by Westview Press

Published 2019 by Routledge
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Copyright 1977 by the Research Institute on International Change, Columbia University

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Sources of contemporary radicalism.
(Radicalism in the contemporary age; v. 1)
(Studies of the Research Institute on International Change, Columbia
University)
1. RadicalismHistoryAddresses, essays, lectures. I. Bialer,
Seweryn. II. Series. III. Series: Columbia University. Research
Institute on International Change, Columbia University.
HX15.R25 vol. 1 [HX36] 320.5'3s [320.5'3] 76-39891

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-28494-7 (hbk)

The three volumes composing Radicalism in the Contemporary Age are the outcome of a series of workshops held at the Research Institute on International Change between February and May 1975. Four workshops were organized to examine the sources of radicalism; the aspirations of radical movements; the strategies and tactics of radicalism; and the conditions of success and the impact of radicalism on contemporary societies.

The first workshop was designed to explore whether and to what extent the explanations given in past studies for the development of radicalismexplanations such as rapid changes in the stratification system, rising expectations, the characteristics of marginality in individuals, and so forth-still held true. It seemed possible that contemporary conditions required a different explanatory framework for radical behavior. The second workshop, dealing with the aspirations of radical movements, was organized because it seemed important to examine not only the much neglected "visionary" aspect of radical movements, but also the function of this vision in the formation, development, or decline of radical movements. By developing and linking new revolutionary theories with new forms of revolutionary warfarefor example, in the perception of the relation of forces underlying the revolutionary process, in the selection of methods, and in the expectations of successradical movements since World War II have demonstrated distinctive characteristics. Thus, the third workshop was devoted to a partial examination of these aspects of radicalism. The final workshop dealt not only with questions regarding the kinds of revolutions possible in the contemporary world, but also with conditions of stability in industrialized democracies in an era of rapid global change. It should be noted that the focus of the workshops was on radicalism in the United States and Western Europe; developing and communist societies entered only marginally into the discussions.