Radicalism in the South since Reconstruction

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.

'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

• Foreword Introduction 'Preaching Anarchy'?: A New York Shaker's Ideas for Perfecting the New South Go Into the Courts: The Afro-American Council's Southern Legal Struggle Mobilizing the Reserve Army: The Communist Party and the Unemployed in Atlanta, 1929-1934 Agnes "'Sis" Cunningham and Radical/Labor Songs in the 1930s South Poetry and Interracial Progressive Coalitions in the Post-War South Beluthahatchee: Stetson Kennedy's 'place of forgiveness?' or Woody Guthrie's 'last stand' Ben V. Olguín, "Red Raza: Chicana/o Nationalism and the International Question" William Strickland, "The Institute of the Black World (IBW), the Political Legacy of Martin Luther King, and the Intellectual Struggle to Re-Think America's Racial Meaning" James Smethurst, "Black Arts South: Rethinking New Orleans and the Black Arts Movement in the Wake of Katrina" Pat Arnow, "Rough Roads for Southern Theaters: Brave Groups in Small Places Face Politics and Money in the '70s and '80s" Lynda Ann Ewen, "Radicalismin the Appalachian Coalfields"