The New Freedom and the Radicals

Reviews / Votes

"In this significant contribution to understanding the relationship between Progressive Era reformers and radicalism, Kramer follows the changing views on radicalism and state repression among a number of different Progressives...over a period spanning the first 25 years of the last century. This ambitious and complex intellectual history is realized through analysis of the writings of these reformers and engagement with extensive scholarly work on the period. Kramer's central argument-that Progressivism cannot be understood without addressing its relationship to political and labor radicalism, and that this relationship was subject to change under the pressure of international and domestic developments-is welcome.... Kramer is the first to chart over an extended period the impact of radicalism on the development of political thought among leading Progressives. Summing Up: Highly recommended."
-CHOICE "The New Freedom and the Radicals is the first attempt to broadly understand the relationship between progressives and radicals. Kramer offers an answer to the question of the origins of 'repressive tolerance' in the early 20th century. Well written and featuring a good analysis and integration of both primary and secondary materials, Kramer maintains a dispassionate approach to sensitive and timely issues, such as the limits on democracy and the challenges faced by dissenters during times of national stress. He has chosen a group of important and influential progressive figures and shown how their views or positions on violence and radicalism changed or were modified over time. As a work of intellectual history The New Freedom and the Radicals succeeds admirably."
-Philip Yale Nicholson, Professor Emeritus of History, Nassau Community College, and author of Labor's Story in the United States "The New Freedom and the Radicals is a unique book that looks at radicalism through the lens of liberalism. Kramer asks how the two parts of progressivism became two distinct movements. His argument about the relationship between radicalism and liberalism within the larger progressive movement is shrewd, and he deftly synthesizes the vast literature on progressivism."-Richard A. Greenwald, author of The Triangle Fire, the Protocols of Peace, and Industrial Democracy in Progressive Era New York "This is an insightful book...[Kramer] provides a brisk intellectual narrative of the relationship between such influential progressives as Walter Lippmann, Jane Addams, Herbert Croly, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Frank Walsh, and what were the leading groups on the American Left-the Socialist party and the Industrial Workers of the World.... He explains how the larger political context affected the ebb and flow of their relationship more cogently than has any previous scholar.... Kramer gives a particularly nuanced account of the progressives' response to labor unrest."--The Journal of American History
"[A] worthy project that attempts to map the shifting boundaries between progressive reform and radicalism. And nowhere is this achievement more fruitful than in Kramer's rich description of the silencing and backtracking of progressives during wartime. What emerged from the war, as Kramer does an excellent job of showing, is a pragmatic distinction that progressives made between the defense of radicals' individual rights, including freedom of expression, and a more cautious and ambiguous response to the radicals' programs for socializing property and attacking the foundations of capitalism." -American Historical Review "Kramer is impressive in laying out the four strands of radicalism and documenting their development chronologically.... [He] does a commendable job of assembling and organizing the material for his argument. He demonstrates sophistication in presenting and assessing competing sources of ideas among leading progressive thinkers and contributes to our understanding of the coagulating forces in this era and their dynamics" -Perspectives on Politics