Australian Left Review
Article Title
Books: A Prophetic Minority
Abstract
ITS CRITICS, of whom there are many ranged throughout the entire political spectrum, call it half-baked, idealistic to a fault, and naive. Its supporters, which include men of the calibre of Michael H arrington, see it as courageous, dedicated and existential. Its practical accomplishments, often overlooked by those who write it off as nihilist or chronic rejectionist, are impressive by any standards. It sees itself as the product of the generation “class of sixty” and beyond, and it gave birth to the slogan—“You can’t trust anyone over thirty.” It is the American New Left—a phenom enon which is at yet too new, too complex and too ill-defined by all the usual guide-lines to submit to easy classification, politico-social analysis and interpretation.