Revolution in the air : sixties radicals turn to Lenin, Mao, and Che

Revolution in the Air is the definitive study of how radicals from the sixties movements embraced twentieth-century Marxism, and what movements of dissent today can learn from the legacies of Lenin, Mao and Che.;Cover Page; Halftitle Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Foreword; Preface to the Paperback Edition; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: A New Generation of Revolutionaries: 1968-1973; 1. "The System" Becomes The Target; 2. The Appeal of Third World Marxism; 3. The Transformation of New Left Radicalism; Part II: Gotta Get Down to It: 1968-1973; 4. A New Communist Movement Takes Shape; 5. Strongest Pole on the Anticapitalist Left; 6. Elaborate Doctrine, Weak Class Anchor; 7. Envisioning the Vanguard; 8. Bodies on the Line: The Culture of a Movement The first in-depth study of the long march of the US New Left after 1968 The sixties were a time when radical movements learned to embrace twentieth-century Marxism. Revolution in the Air is the definitive study of this turning point, and examines what the resistance of today can learn from the legacies of Lenin, Mao and Che. It tells the story of the “new communist movement” which was the most racially integrated and fast-growing movement on the Left. Thousands of young activists, radicalized by the Vietnam War and Black Liberation, and spurred on by the Puerto Rican, Chicano and Asian-American movements, embraced a Third World oriented version of Marxism. These admirers of Mao, Che and Amilcar Cabral organized resistance to the Republican majorities of Nixon and Ford. By the 1980s these groups had either collapsed or become tiny shards of the dream of a Maoist world revolution. Taking issue with the idea of a division between an early “good sixties” and a later “bad sixties,” Max Elbaum is particularly concerned to reclaim the lessons of the new communist movement for today’s activists who, like their sixties’ predecessors, are coming of age at a time when the Left lacks mass support and is fragmented along racial lines. With a new foreward by Alicia Garza, cofounder of #BlackLivesMatter. Cover Page Halftitle Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Foreword Preface to the Paperback Edition Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: A New Generation of Revolutionaries: 1968-1973 1. "The System" Becomes The Target 2. The Appeal of Third World Marxism 3. The Transformation of New Left Radicalism Part II: Gotta Get Down to It: 1968-1973 4. A New Communist Movement Takes Shape 5. Strongest Pole on the Anticapitalist Left 6. Elaborate Doctrine, Weak Class Anchor 7. Envisioning the Vanguard 8. Bodies on the Line: The Culture of a Movement Part III: Battered by Recession, Restructuring and Reaction: 1974-19819. The Momentum Is Broken 10. China's New Policies Split the Movement 11. Rival Trends Try Party Building, Round Two 12. Fatal Crises and First Obituaries Part IV: Walking on Broken Glass: 1982-1992 13. The Survivors Build the Rainbow 14. The Collapse of Communism Part V: End of a Long March 15. Movement Veterans Adjust to Civilian Life 16. Lessons from the New Communist Movement Appendix: Glossary of New Communist Movement Organizations Bibliography Notes Index Thousands of young activists, radicalized by the Vietnam War and Black Liberation, and spurred on by the Puerto Rican, Chicano and Asian-American movements, embraced a Third World oriented version of Marxism. This is a study of the long march of the US New Left after 1968.