Radical Man, The Process of Psycho-Social Development

Abstract

Abstract Charles Hampden-Turner has written a very fascinating and very bad book. Its fundamental aim is to give us a scientific account of the process by which “radical” consciousness is developed. This is the sort of theme that is certain to attract a lot of attention, for in the last year or so the movement has developed an almost insatiable thirst for analysis. One can almost imagine a movement of R. Crumb cartoons, zonked out of their minds, walking around with a common fantasy, substituting for the ever-present female nude, a copy of Capital. What is needed is some kind of theory that will adequately deal with transformations in the objective structures of Imperialist production; account for the kinds of political motion developing in the various sectors of American society; and most importantly, explain who we in the movement are and what exactly it is that we are doing.