The Radical Next Door: The Los Angeles Catholic Worker during the Cold War

Abstract

While some anti-war activist groups faded during the latter part of the cold war, the Los Angeles Catholic Worker organization continued its commitment to world peace through nonviolent resistance. This article explores the organization's founding, programs, and the variety of motives that led individuals to participate in lacw's causes. By linking the struggle against war with the struggle against poverty, and by relying on self-sacrifice as a primary strategy, this peace group remained viable while providing essential services to the poor, expanding its ideological focus and effectiveness, and shaping America's consciousness and conscience.