Little "red scares" : anti-communism and political repression in the United States, 1921-1946

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Little "red scares" : anti-communism and political repression in the United States, 1921-1946

edited by Robert Justin Goldstein

Ashgate, c2014

  • : hbk

Available at  / 4 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Anti-communism has long been a potent force in American politics, capable of gripping both government and popular attention. Nowhere is this more evident that the two great 'red scares' of 1919-20 and 1946-54; the latter generally - if somewhat inaccurately - termed McCarthyism. The interlude between these two major scares has tended to garner less attention, but as this volume makes clear, the lingering effects of 1919-20 and the gathering storm-clouds of 'McCarthyism' were clearly visible throughout the 20s and 30s, even if in a more low-key way. Indeed, the period between the two great red scares was marked by frequent instances of political repression, often justified on anti-communist grounds, at local, state and federal levels. Yet these events have been curiously neglected in the history of American political repression and anti-communism, perhaps because much of the material deals with events scattered in time and space which never reached the intensity of the two great scares. By focusing on this twenty-five year 'interim' period, the essays in this collection bridge the gap between the two high-profile 'red scares' thus offering a much more contextualised and fluid narrative for American anti-communism. In so doing the rationale and motivations for the 'red scares' can be seen as part of an evolving political landscape, rather than as isolated bouts of hysteria exploding onto - and then vanishing from - the political scene. Instead, a much more nuanced appreciation of the conflicting interests and fears of government, politicians, organised labour, free-speech advocates, employers, and the press is offered, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand the political history of modern America.

Table of Contents

  • Contents: Preface: Little' Red scares': anti-Communism and political repression in the United States, 1921-1946, Robert Justin Goldstein
  • After the Red scare: civil liberties in the era of Harding and Coolidge, Ernest Freeberg
  • The FBI and the politics of anti-Communism, 1920-1945: a prelude to power, Athan Theoharis
  • Citizens versus outsiders: anti-Communism at state and local levels, 1921-1946, M.J. Heale
  • Red herrings? The Fish Committee and anti-Communism in the early Depression years, Alex Goodall
  • Little Red schoolhouses? Anti-Communists and education in an 'age of conflicts', Timothy Cain
  • Fighting the 'Red danger': employers and anti-Communism, Chad Pearson
  • Leftward ramparts: labor and anticommunism between the World Wars, Markku Ruotsila
  • Premature McCarthyism: Spanish Republican aid and the origins of Cold War anti-Communism, Eric Smith
  • Laying the foundations for the post-World War II Red scare: investigating the left-feminist consumer movement, Landon R.Y. Storrs
  • The Dies Committee v. the New deal: real Americans and the unending search for un-Americans, Kenneth O' Reilly
  • The long Black and Red scare: anti-Communism and the African American freedom struggle, Robbie Lieberman
  • Shooting rabid dogs: New York's Rapp-Coudert attack on teachers unions, Stephen Leberstein
  • The history of the Smith Act and the Hatch Act: anti-Communism and the rise of the conservative coalition in Congress, Rebecca Hill
  • Index.

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