''Radical America'' was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

political magazine in the United States established in 1967. The magazine was founded by

Paul Buhle Paul Merlyn Buhle (born September 27, 1944) is a (retired) Senior Lecturer at Brown University, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of ...

and

Mari Jo Buhle Mari Jo Buhle (born 1943) is an American historian and William J. Kenan Jr. University Professor Emerita at Brown University. Early life and education Buhle was born in 1943 as Mari Jo Kupski. She graduated from North Chicago Community High S ...

, activists in

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

and served during its first few years of existence as an unofficial theoretical journal of that organization. During the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine changed to take on more of an academic Marxist flavor. With contributions from academics dwindling during the decade of the 1990s, the magazine was terminated in 1999.

Publication history

Establishment

''Radical America'' was founded by members of the

(SDS) in 1967. The initial editors were

and

in their graduate school days, operating in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

. In the first few years, it served as the "unofficial journal of SDS."

Dan Georgakas Dan Georgakas ( el, Νταν Γεωργακάς; 1938–2021) was an American anarchist poet and historian, who specialized in oral history and the American labor movement, best known for the publication ''Detroit: I do mind dying: A study in ...

wrote that its importance lay in that it "was on the scholarly cutting edge of a social movement that often has been accused of lacking intellectual substance.Dan Georgakas, Series editor's preface to "From the Knights of Labor to the New World Order." p. ix. Initially, subscriptions were sold at a discount rate to national SDS members. The Buhles relocated to the Boston, Massachusetts area, and brought the journal with them. By the time of the Boston move the journal was independent from the SDS."''Radical America,'' 1967-1999."
Brown University Library Center for Digital Archives.

Content

The journal, published in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area ...

, focused on topical issues of concern to the left and society at large, such as women's liberation, working class radicalism and busing. Beginning in 1970, each issue had a dedicated focus upon one issue. Mainly, during the 1970s, the journal evolved in a direction concerned with

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, ...

issues, rather than traditional,

Old Left The Old Left was the pre-1960s left-wing in the Western world, the earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had often taken a more vanguardist approach to social justice and focused mostly on labor unionization and questions of social clas ...

concern with strengthening ties with

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

s. It was particularly active in the 1970s, as authors related the experiences of feminist and autonomous work-place activists.

Circulation

According to the publication's published annual "Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation" required by the Post Office Department, the average press run of ''Radical America'' for the twelve months ending in October 1982 was 4,100, with an average mail subscription of about 2,330.John P. Demeter, "Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation," ''Radical America,'' vol. 16, no. 4/5 (July-Oct. 1982), pg. 41. Bulk sales and sales through vendors accounted for another 1,270 copies, according to the 1982 report by editor John P. Demeter.

Demise

By the 1980s the journal branched to addressing gay issues and rock music. During the late 1980s, article contributions dwindled as academics left the journal.

Footnotes

External links

"''Radical America,'' 1967-1999."
Brown University Library Center for Digital Archives.

Brown University Library Center for Digital Archives. —Large run of issues in pdf format.
"The Search for a Useable Past: An Interview with Paul Buhle on Radical America"
Viewpoint Magazine, March 2, 2015.. {{DEFAULTSORT:Radical America 1967 establishments in Wisconsin 1999 disestablishments in Massachusetts Alternative magazines Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1967 Magazines disestablished in 1999 Marxist magazines Magazines published in Massachusetts Magazines published in Wisconsin New Left