Suchergebnisse

As a journalist Hunt and his brother flirted with libel. After winning three cases, they were fined and imprisoned for libel against the Prince Regent.

A discussion of the contemporary issue of "political correctness" (PC), particularly the charge that the university is dominated by leftists whose policies constitute a "new McCarthyism." After a thorough summary of the historical record of McCarthyism, it is demonstrated that no comparable suppression of academic freedom exists today. It is concluded that the attack on a fabricated "leftist tyranny" & not the movements for multicultural education, represents a threat to civil liberty. It is suggested that the anti-PC crusade is part of a restructuring of the university that is wedding it to the military & corporate research & part of an attack on feminism & affirmative action. AA

ABSTRACT: In the 1960s, the FBI's counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) routinely infiltrated campus antiwar and civil rights groups, investigating thousands of students with the aim of discrediting their activism and destroying their career prospects. After a Senate committee led by Frank Church exposed this practice, the FBI disavowed it and applied a heightened standard for initiating investigations at universities. There is reason to believe, however, that federal law enforcement is facing pressure to relax its self-restraint and investigate pro-Palestinian student activists using a tool not at its disposal in the heyday of COINTELPRO: a nebulous federal statute that imposes prison sentences of up to twenty years for providing "material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization." This statute criminalizes public advocacy that is done under the direction of or in coordination with foreign terrorist groups. There are few legal constraints, however, that would prevent a motivated FBI from using pro-Palestinian speech as grounds for investigating students who have no connection to such a group.

ABSTRACT: In the 1960s, the FBI's counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) routinely infiltrated campus antiwar and civil rights groups, investigating thousands of students with the aim of discrediting their activism and destroying their career prospects. After a Senate committee led by Frank Church exposed this practice, the FBI disavowed it and applied a heightened standard for initiating investigations at universities. There is reason to believe, however, that federal law enforcement is facing pressure to relax its self-restraint and investigate pro-Palestinian student activists using a tool not at its disposal in the heyday of COINTELPRO: a nebulous federal statute that imposes prison sentences of up to twenty years for providing "material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization." This statute criminalizes public advocacy that is done under the direction of or in coordination with foreign terrorist groups. There are few legal constraints, however, that would prevent a motivated FBI from using pro-Palestinian speech as grounds for investigating students who have no connection to such a group.

This study examines the effects of McCarthyism and anti-communist investigations at the local level. The author uses the case of Mary Knowles -- a librarian who was investigated in the 1950s for alleged communist sympathies -- to analyze how communities, local officials, and ordinary people were impacted by the politics surrounding the Cold War

Describes personal experiences as a liberal professor at a college where Republicans had responded to conservative muckraker David Horowitz's claim that liberals are conspiring to keep Republicans out of American colleges/universities. Campus conservatives set out to expose faculty & students they identified as "liberal-leaning." After they managed to impeach the African-American lesbian Student Government President their sights shifted to faculty members, including the author who became the "designated poster child." Details of the investigation & correspondence between the lawyers for both sides are described, along with the protest movement initiated by progressive students who demonstrated & debated against the extreme right's efforts to stifle academic freedom & privatize higher education. The history of academia since the early 1930s is traced to argue that it's not surprising that reactionaries are trying to create a 21st century version of McCarthyism. Consideration is given to the ideological basis of the third wave of McCarthyism & ways in which conservatives have co-opted the language of inclusivity. Prospects for the future of academic freedom are discussed. J. Lindroth

The hearings -- The threshold -- The stooge grebanier -- Coudertism -- Vichy's lawyer? -- Class war -- The dewey trial -- The educational front -- Far from the ivory tower -- The mortal storm -- Bad faith -- Ccny -- Flirting with the right -- Communism on trial -- Aftermath

"Red Diaper Baby is James Laxer's compelling and extraordinary memoir of growing up in a communist family during the height of the Cold War. When Jim was born in a Montreal hospital, his father was living in hiding under an assumed name. And when it came time to begin school in Ottawa, Jim was enrolled under a false birth date. Throughout his childhood he was repeatedly instructed not to tell anyone what his father did for work. Laxer's parents were dedicated members of the Communist Party, true believers in an ideology that was generally reviled and had been outlawed during much of World War II. From an early age, Laxer was collecting signatures on ban-the-bomb petitions, delivering Party flyers door to door, attending eccentric left-wing Camp Naivelt, and campaigning for the charismatic J. B. Salsberg, a Communist MPP in the Ontario legislature. Dramatic, humorous, and full of period detail, Red Diaper Baby offers a rare look at the McCarthy years through the eyes of a child. It also explains a great deal about Laxer's eventual and crucial role in the founding of the Waffle faction of the NDP, his continued engagement with the left, and his evolution into one of Canada's preeminent intellectuals."--