Political radicalism

Political radicalism

Political radicalism or simply radicalism is adherence to radical views and principles in politics. The meaning of the term "radical" (from Latin "radix", root) in a political context has changed since its first appearance in late 18th century, while it preserves its sense of a political orientation which favors fundamental, drastic, revolutionary changes in society, literally meaning "changes at the roots". Its specific flavors historically vary from "reformism" (early 19th century, antonymous and in opposition to conservative) to modern synonym of "extremism" (antonymous and in opposition to moderate).

The 19th century American "Cyclopaedia of Political Science" asserts that "radicalism is characterized less by its principles than by the manner of their application". ["Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States", 1893, [http://books.google.com/books?id=l-J3vOPWd50C&pg=PA492&dq=%22radicalism+is%22&lr= p. 492, article "Radicalism"] , by Maurice Block ]

Early usage

According to "Encyclopedia Britannica" the first use of the word "radical" in a political sense is generally ascribed to the English whig parliamentarian Charles James Fox who in 1797 declared for a "radical reform" of the electoral system, drastically expanding the franchise to provide universal manhood suffrage. This led to a general use of the term to apply to all supporting the movement for parliamentary reform.

Over the 19th century the term has been combined with various notions and doctrines and various flavors of radicalism have been spoken about: working-class, middle-class, philosophical, democratic, bourgeois, Tory, plebeian. Furthermore, every influential radical leader gave rise to their own trend, such as Spencean radicalism or Carlilean radicalism. Still, there existed a certain degree of unity and identity among all these currents. Conservatives frequently used the term "radical" as a general-purpose pejorative. [Mike Sanders (ed.) (2001) "Women and Radicalism in the Nineteenth Century", ISBN 0415205263, [http://books.google.com/books?id=9W4ucbBfkoQC&pg=PR18&dq=%22radicalism+is%22&lr=&sig=lPpumOh7NWu_qt7zy1AiQP5rCcM "General Introduction"] ]

Modern usage

In modern usage, the terms "radical" and "radicalism" refer to the political views of the far left (radical left, leftist radicalism [Edward Walter (1992) "The Rise and Fall of Leftist Radicalism in America", ISBN 0275942767] ) and far right (radical right [Gilbert Abcarian (1971) "American Political Radicalism: Contemporary Issues and Orientations" ] ) of the conventional political spectrum.

ee also

* Radical centre

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Judaism and political radicalism — One element of antisemitism is the identification of Jews with political radicalism. On the one hand anti Semites have often implicitly or explicitly assumed that Jewish involvement in radical political movements was part of an overarching Jewish …   Wikipedia

  • Political Register — war eine britische politische Wochenzeitung, die 1802 von dem englischen Schriftsteller und radikal rechts konservativem Politiker William Cobbett (1763 1835) gegründet wurde. Die Zeitung existierte bis zu seinem Tode 1835 und wurde dann… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Radicalism (historical) — For opposition to all forms of government, social hierarchy or authority, see Anarchism. For other meanings see also radical, extremism, far right and far left. Radicalism as a political movement should be distinguished from the modern American… …   Wikipedia

  • Political Justice — Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Modern Morals and Manners (1793) outlines the political philosophy of the eighteenth century philosopher William Godwin.Godwin began thinking about Political Justice in 1791, after the… …   Wikipedia

  • Political Register — Title page of the Political Register dated January 19 1828. The British Library, London. The Political Register was a weekly newspaper founded by William Cobbett in 1802 and ceased publication in 1835, the year of his death. Originally… …   Wikipedia

  • Radicalism —    A nineteenth century term referring to an ideology of radical individualism. In English, the term radical was often a contraction of philosophic radical , the name given to the followers of Jeremy Bentham, and most radicals in the first half… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • Political philosophy — Part of the Politics series Politics List of political topics Politics by country …   Wikipedia

  • Political spectrum — A political spectrum (plural spectra) is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes symbolizing independent political dimensions.Most long standing spectra include a right wing and left wing,… …   Wikipedia

  • radicalism — radical ► ADJECTIVE 1) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something. 2) advocating thorough political or social reform; politically extreme. 3) departing from tradition; innovative or progressive. 4) (of surgery) thorough and… …   English terms dictionary

  • political theory — noun an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation • Syn: ↑political orientation, ↑ideology • Derivationally related forms: ↑ideologist (for: ↑ideology), ↑ideological ( …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”