THE IMAGINATION OF THE NEW LEFT: A GLOBAL ANALYSIS

This dissertation is an empirical and theoretical study of the self-formation of the human species through political praxis. The rationality of the New Left is contrasted with the theory and practice of sociology, systems analysis, Soviet Marxism, and the institutional structures of advanced industrial societies. A diachronic analysis of social movements in 1848, 1905, and 1968 indicates that movements which appear to have "failed" in the short run also may have their moments of "success." A synchronic analysis of the events of 1968 establishes the global character of the New Left. The general strike of May, 1968 in France and the student strike of May, 1970 in the United States are studied in detail. In these moments of social crisis, it is possible to focus on the nature of the spontaneously-generated New Left imagination of alternatives to the present form of social structure and to the existing content of individual being. The consequences of these strikes are enumerated, particularly their effects upon the streamlining of the system's co-optive capacity and the strengthening of its repressive apparatus. The Punk Left in Europe in the 1980's is analyzed as empirical evidence of the world-historical character of New Left cultural-politics. The dispersion of the radical movement in the United States and the political legacy of the New Left are discussed in the final chapter. If nowhere else but in the imagination of the New Left, the possibility of a world-historical revolution is once again on the agenda of history.