Socialism and America

248 Pages·1985·22.604 MB·English

by  Irving Howe

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A searching review of American
—
socialism its past, present, and
future
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Nearly a million Americans voted
fora socialist for president in 1912,
and more than a thousand Ameri-
can socialists held public office.
Since then, democratic socialism
has had its ups and downs in the
United States; radical leftist
movements on the one hand, and
reform movements like the New
Deal on the other, have stolen
much ofits thunder.
In these essays Irving Howe sur-
veys a movement he has known
firsthand since the 1930s and re-
flects on its future. Howe sees hope
for a reconciliation of liberalism
and democratic socialism, both
committed to a gradual approach
and to human and civil rights. And
in a wide-ranging concluding es-
say, he weighs the chances for the
survival of socialism as a living
ideal.
(Continuedon backflap)
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://archive.org/details/socialismamericaOOhowe

Socialism America
and
BOOKS BY IRVING HOWE
A Margin ofHope
Celebrations and Attacks
Leon Trotsky
World ofOur Fathers
(with the assistance ofKenneth Libo)
The Critical Point
Decline ofthe New
Steady Work: Essays in the Politics of
Democratic Radicalism, i9^3-ig66
Thomas Hardy: A Critical Study
A WorldMore Attractive
The American Communist Party: A Critical History
(with Lewis Coser)
Politics and the Novel
William Faulkner: A Critical Study
SherwoodAnderson: A Critical Biography
The U.A.W. and Walter Reuther
(with B. Widick)
J.
BOOKS EDITED BY IRVING HOWE
How We Lived
(with Kenneth Libo)
The World ofthe Blue-Collar Worker
Essential Works ofSocialism
The Seventies: Problems & Proposals
(with Michael Harrington)
Voicesfrom the Yiddish
(with Ehezer Greenberg)
A Treasury ofYiddish Poetry
(with Ehezer Greenberg)
The Idea ofthe Modern
The Basic Writings ofTrotsky
The Radical Imagination
Edith Wharton: A Critical Collection
The Radical Papers
A Treasury ofYiddish Stories
(with Ehezer Greenberg)
Howe
Irving
Socialism
AMERICA
and
HARCOURT BRACE JOVANOVICH, PUBLISHERS
SAN DIEGO NEW YORK LONDON
(^
—
Copyright © 1985, 1977 by Irving Howe
All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies ofany part ofthe work should be mailed
to: Permissions, Harcourt BraceJovanovich, Publishers, Orlando, Florida 32887.
"Socialism and Liberalism: Articles ofConciliation?" and "Thinking about
Socialism" first appeared in slightly different form in Dissent.
Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Howe, Irving.
Socialism and America.
— Bibliography: p.
I. Socialism United Sta—tes. 2. Socialism
United States History. I. Title.
HX86.H794 1985 335'-00973 85-8691
ISBN 0-15-183575-6
Designed by G.B.D. Smith
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
First edition
A B c D E
For Michael Harrington
and Michael Walzer