Radicalism in the South since Reconstruction

by J. Smethurst (Editor), R. Rubin (Editor), C. Green (Editor)

Overview

This book broadly frames the scholarly conversation about southern radicalism, putting essays covering a range of historical periods and topics in dialogue with each other so as to get a sense of the range of southern politics and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349534661
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	02/09/2007
Edition description:	1st ed. 2006
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

JAMES SMETHURST is Associate Professor of History and Afro-American Studies in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA. RACHEL RUBIN is Associate Professor of American Studies, University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA. CHRIS GREEN is Assistant Professor of English, Marshall University, USA.

Table of Contents

Radicalism in the South Since Reconstruction: An Introduction   Chris Green   Rachel Rubin   James Smethurst     1
Essays
The Afro-American Council and its Challenge of Louisiana's Grandfather Clause   Shawn Leigh Alexander     13
"The First Anarchist that Ever Came to Atlanta": Hiram F. Hover from New York to the New South   Bruce E. Baker     59
Mobilizing the Reserve Army: The Communist Party and the Unemployed in Atlanta, 1929-1934   James J. Lorence     57
Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and Labor Songs in the Depression South   Ronald D. Cohen     83
The Tight Rope of Democracy: Don West's Clods of Southern Earth   Chris Green     99
Black Arts South: Rethinking New Orleans and the Black Arts Movement in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina   James Smethurst     129
The Great Anti-Injunction Strike of 1976: Context and Implications for Appalachia   Lynda Ann Ewen     49
Critik: The Institute of the Black World (IBW), The Political Legacy of Martin Luther King, and the Intellectual Struggle to Rethink Americas Racial Meaning   Bill Strickland     167
Southern Theater for Social Change   Pat Arnow     191
Interviews
Beluthahatchee Blues: An Interview with Stetson Kennedy   Jorge Arevalo Mateus     211
"We Don't Have Much Time": An Interview with Raul Salinas   Rachel Rubin     227
"The Anti-Slavery Act of 2002": An Interview with Si Kahn   Rachel Rubin     239
Brief Notes on Contributors     255
Index     259

Editorial Reviews

'A welcome contribution to the growing body of revisionist scholarship influenced by postmodernism. The multidisciplinary essays do not belong to the traditional schools of either consensus or conflict history, but rather adopt the perspective of diversity without boundaries. Focusing on diversity within the region, they challenge the conventional notion of a South unified by reactionary ideology_As these essays clearly show, American history was changed by homegrown southern radicals who dared to dream and become the missionaries for a new social order.'- Ronald L. Lewis, Stuart and Joyce Robbins Chair in History, West Virginia University, USA

'A stunning, dazzling and, ultimately, insightful collection of essays which reaffirms the simple fact that those who wish to understand the U.S. must understand the U.S. South_and those who wish to understand the U.S. South must read this book.' -Gerald Horne, author of Black and Brown: African-Americans and the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920

'This book uncovers some lost history of radical political activity in the South, dispelling the image of the South as conservative, provincial and unconcerned with the problems of poverty, inequality, unemployment which plagued the region. Thanks to Smethurst, Green, and Rubin for disturbing our ideas of the South and adding to our knowledge of Southern politics and history.'- Helen Matthews Lewis, author of Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia

'Radicalism in the South is a scintillating blend of historical narrative, biography, reminiscence, primary materials, cultural studies, and literary criticism. By thoughtfully combining fresh source materials and perspectives, the volume presents the political and cultural terrain of the post-Reconstruction South as we have seldom seen it_from the angle of labor, the Left, cultural workers, anti-racist activists, and more. The result is an indispensable addition to the growing collection of works that encourage the reconsideration of a region too often shrouded in clichés and myths.'- Alan Wald, Professor, Program in American Culture, University of Michigan, USA and author of Trinity of Passion: The U.S. Literary Left and the Anti-fascist Crusade

From the Publisher