Radical Social Change in the United States

"Professor Swanger's Radical Social Change in the United States offers a timely and essential re-thinking of twenty-first century social movements that will become required reading for anyone interested in social movement theory, conflict and peace studies, and the struggle for a more just world. Swanger historicizes social movements in the context of the 'post-factual' moment, a theoretical move that liberates our conceptualization of radical change from the despair of contemporary crises. The result is a manifesto for the possible." (Glen David Kuecker, Professor of History, DePauw University, USA)

Taking full stock of the despair that launched the popular support for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Swanger historicizes the political paralysis of post-1974 United States that deepened already severe economic inequalities, asking how the terrain for social movements in the early twenty-first-century US differs from that of the 1960s.This book tackles the question of why the United States is so resistant to radical change towards economic justice and peace. Taking full stock of the despair that launched the popular support for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Swanger historicizes the political paralysis of post-1974 United States that deepened already severe economic inequalities, asking how the terrain for social movements in the early  twenty-first-century US differs from that of the 1960s.  This terrain is marked by the entrenchment of neoliberalism, anti-intellectualism, and difficulties paradoxically posed by the ease of social media. Activists now must contend with a paralyzing “post-factual” moment. Alain Badiou’s thought informs this book on breaking through contemporary political paralysis.