{"product_id":"randolph-bourne-and-the-politics-lesie-j-vaughan-9780700631742","title":"Randolph Bourne and the Politics of Cultural Radicalism","description":"In the \"little rebellion\" that swept New York's Greenwich Village before World War I, few figures stood out more than Randolph Bourne. Hunchbacked and caped--the \"little sparrowlike man\" of Dos Passos' U.S.A.--Bourne was an essayist and critic most remembered today for his opposition to U.S. military involvement in Europe and his assertion that \"war is the health of the state.\" A frequent contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe New Republic\u003c\/i\u003e, he died in 1918 at the age of 32, arguing that a \"military-industrial\" complex would continue to shape the policies of the modern liberal state. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBourne is also recognized as one of the founders of American cultural radicalism, revered in turn by Marxists, anti-fascists, and the New Left. Through his writings, he debated issues that were cultural as well as political from a position he described as \"below the battle,\" rejecting the either\/or political options of his day in favor of a viewpoint that argued outside the terms set by the establishment. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her new study of Bourne's political thought, Leslie Vaughan maintains that this position was not, as others have contended, a retreat from politics but rather a different form of political engagement, freed from the suppositions that impede genuine debate and democratic change. Her analysis challenges previous readings of Bourne's politics, showing that he offered non-statist, neighborhood-based politics in America's modern cities as a practical alternative to involvement in the national state and its militarism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy demonstrating Bourne's emphasis on politics as local, multi-ethnic, and intergenerational, Vaughan shows that his thought offered a new political discourse and set of cultural possibilities for American society in an era he was the first to label as \"post-modern.\" Returning to the influence of Nietzsche on his thought, she also explores the role Bourne played in the creation of his own myth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEighty years later, Bourne can be seen to stand at the cusp of the modern and the post-modern worlds, as he speaks to today's multiculturalist movement. In reexamining Bourne's writings, Vaughan has located the roots of twenthieth-century radical thought while repositioning Bourne at the center of debates about the nature and limits of American liberalism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lesie J. Vaughan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0700631747\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780700631742\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kansas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/08\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.59d","brand":"Lesie J. Vaughan","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47579602092287,"sku":"9780700631742","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4ffa804d-25c1-4d54-bfda-1fd340ca6488.jpg?v=1763875334","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/randolph-bourne-and-the-politics-lesie-j-vaughan-9780700631742","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}