The New Left

Abstract

IN THE past few months scores of articles have appeared in numerous periodicals by and about the left. Several important questions consistently recur. Is this an important social movement? Does it have an ideology and a program? What are the weaknesses and the strengths of the movement? The dialogue between the critics and the defenders has rapidly deteriorated as each side has become increasingly polemical. A less impassioned approach to the study of contemporary radicalism would seem to be in order. An understanding of the major goals, strategies, and problems is necessary for a comprehension and evaluation of the young leftists and their activities. From a reading of the radicals' magazines, speeches, songs, and writings, it appears that thus far the new left has developed neither a formal ideology nor a single major organization to give it structure, strategy, or unity. It is characterized, instead, by a set of assumptions, beliefs, and goals to which several interrelated but decentralized groups subscribe. It is also distinguished by youthfulness, idealism, and patriotism. For a number of years incipient radical groups have been attempting to define their position, to confront difficult issues, and to delineate their strategies and programs. A Marx or Locke has not yet appeared, however, to perform the arduous task of synthesis. For a short while it seemed that C. Wright Mills, professor of sociology at Columbia University, might be the theoretician of the new radicalism. Mills con-