The U.S. American Left: Past, Present, and Future

This course is an introduction to the politics, ideas, and institutions of the U.S. American Left. We will cover the labor movement, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the New Left of the sixties, and the academic Left that has paid increasing attention to race and gender. Later we turn to the protest movements against climate change, free trade, and growing inequality. The course also focuses on contemporary resistance to Trump, and the resurgent popularity of Marxism and socialism in the United States. Students will leave the course with an understanding of the complex history and possible futures of Left politics today. 3 hrs. sem.