STUDENTS AND POLITICS IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

by Donald E.--Ed. Emmerson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1968

The ""political virgins"" (i.e., student activists) characteristically are rash, righteous, radical. So one would guess--and so these essays in political sociology tend to demonstrate. The writers are young academics, and an occasional journalist, who did much of the research on location in underdeveloped countries where student movements are not much different than here. This book, like Seymour Lipset's collection, Student Politics (1967), has the heavy prose of a series of seminar papers, but they are methodologically quite sound, factually heady, and worth the straggle to swallow. The editor's comparative chapter follows specific studies of Algeria, the Congo, Ghana, South Africa, China, Indonesia, South Vietnam, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela. Political stances vary by country, but in all cases the young activists stand on the fringe (right or left). Ironically, students in South Vietnam remain slightly less radical about war issues than their American counterparts. The big lesson of this useful sourcebook is that though students cannot make a revolution, their ""rage against evil"" often has triggered more central forces to action. In short, these scholars document the power of innocence to initiate social change.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION