Editors' Introduction

This is JSR's first in what may be a series of occasional guest-edited issues. In this issue, our guest editors are Zoe Trodd, at Harvard University, author and editor of a number of books and articles on the history of American protest literature, and Timothy Patrick McCarthy, also at Harvard University, a historian of social movements and media culture who co-edited The Radical Reader (2003). As one might expect, the articles and the interview in particular reflect a somewhat different perspective than has been characteristic of the journal. In general, we have avoided any political or ideological identification for JSR, and we have included articles on radicalism across the political spectrum. These remain operative principles for the journal in the future. This particular issue focuses on the history of the American twentieth-century left, in particular the civil rights movement, and on how this history is remembered and retold.

Overarching questions—Is it reformism, or is it radicalism?—continue to haunt our inquiries into this new field, which includes radicalisms of various kinds. In a future issue, we will feature an interview with a major figure within the Flemish separatist movement, which is generally regarded as belonging to the radical right. But when can a group be considered to have left behind its radical origins and become mainstream? At what point and to what extent does radicalism give way to reformism, or vice versa? Is rhetoric of violence or its absence the primary determinant? Furthermore, to what extent ought scholars identify themselves with the agendas of those they study? Such questions are raised by the articles and interview in this issue, but also are applicable elsewhere on the political spectrum.

JSR has become the nexus of a lively and growing field. We have a new website that includes a developing database of scholars in the field, and we have many new submissions on a wide array of subjects. We have every reason to expect that this will continue, and that eventually we will have featured a broad array of radicalisms around the globe. We welcome suggestions for potential articles or thematic clusters of articles. Future issues will feature articles on various forms of Christian radicalism, on the European New Right, and on feminism, and we will continue our series of occasional international conferences and symposia on radicalism over coming years. We find this a stimulating and fascinating field, and hope that you find it so as well.