"In Letters to a Young Activist, Todd Gitlin looks back at his eventful life, recalling his experience as president of the formidable Students for a Democratic Society contemplating the spirit of activism, and arriving at principles of action to guide the passion and energy of those wishing to do good. He considers the three complementary motives of duty, love, and adventure, reflects on the changing nature of idealism, and shows how righteous action requires realistic as well as idealistic thinking. And he looks forward to an uncertain future that is nevertheless full of possibility, a future where patriotism and intelligent skepticism are not mutually exclusive."--BOOK JACKET.
Record details
ISBN:0465027385 (alk. paper)
Physical Description:print 174 p. ; 21 cm.
Publisher:New York : Basic Books, c2003.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Formatted Contents Note:
1. On Duty, Love and Adventure, or Some Leaps of Faith -- 2. On the Burden of History, or Several Warped Ways of Looking at the Sixties -- 3. On Idealism and Right Action, or Nonviolence Unexhausted -- 4. On Anger, Rage and Guilt, or Temptations of Thinking with Your Blood -- 5. On Changing the World and Blowing It Up, or Compromising with the Compromised -- 6. On the Intricate Dance of Outsiders and Insiders, or Shouts Lead to Murmurs -- 7. On Our Own Character Question, or Uses of Discipline -- 8. On Rendering unto Identity No More than Identity Is Due, or Limits of Comfort -- 9. On Anti-Semitism, the Socialism of Fools -- 10. On Anti-Americanism, or the Temptation of the Automatic No -- 11. On Patriotism Without Embarrassment, or Saving the World Again -- An Activist?s Library.
Book
