Seven Social Movements That Changed America [Hardcover]

How do social movements arise, wield power, and bring about meaningful change? Renowned scholar Linda Gordon investigates these and other salient questions in this visionary, cautionary, timely, and utterly necessary book (Nicole Eustace), narrating how some of Americas most influential twentieth-century social movements transformed the nation. To Gordon, though, peaceable revolutions are not just possible; they are irresistible, they are powerful, they are born in hope and idealism, and they are maintained with courage and hard work, her discussions of the Klan and 1930s fascism notwithstanding.... Yet she steadfastly retains her optimism about social movements. These almost living creatures, as she aspirationally calls them, are vital and transformative partnerships that, by challenging the status quo, remain indispensable to the health of the nation. Or, as she declares, they make American democracy democratic'. That feeling of exasperation  and what happens when the despairing find common cause  permeates the historian Linda Gordons timely new book, Linda Gordon is a unique figure in the field of US history& she has produced several first-rate books& [and] Gordon examines seven important social movements of the twentieth century, how they were organized on a grassroots level, and how they have influenced American society.... Considering the impact these movements continue to have even in the present day, modern readers will not only derive historical value from these stories but also insights applicable to todays social upheavals. Bancroft Prizewinning historian Gordon considers critical changes in American life through an examination of seven movements that arose from the 1890s through the 1970s.... Besides profiling movement leaders, Gordon pays close attention to what she calls their 'followership,' individuals not usually identified as leaders but who developed and promoted strategies and tactics that enabled movements to succeed.... Whether they l#÷