Disillusioned radicals: The intellectual odyssey of Todd Gitlin, Ronald Radosh and David Horowitz

Abstract

From the 1930s to the present there have those who have become enchanted with the left only to become disenchanted later. From Whittaker Chambers and Max Eastman in the 1930s to James Burnham in the 1940s, figures have been devoted to the ideology of the left only to turn against it in anger. Three figures that are emblematic of this change today are David Horowitz, Ronald Radosh, and Todd Gitlin. These three men, once ardent leftists, became disillusioned with the left. Even while situated on the left, these men could be critical of the left as will be discussed later. All three responded to the intellectual collapse of the New Left in different ways. Horowitz, Radosh, and Gitlin's criticisms of the left are significant because all played important roles in the formation of the New Left of the 1960s. This prospectus will examine the intellectual development of these three men and the process by which they moved away from the left.