DEMOCRACY AND THE STUDENT LEFT

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 1968

Kennan comes on like an old fogy in this essay on ""Rebels Without a Program"" which appeared first in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Students, teachers, and distinguished personages throughout the country replied in outspoken letters to the Times, which are collected here. All disagree with Kennan. The controversy: Kennan calls for a return to the Wilsonian ivory tower university and an end to ""the angry ones,"" i.e., activists and hippies; the dissenters--ranging from Auden to Professor Martin Duberman to numerous young ivy leaguers--argue the case for caring instead of ""copping out"" and point out that the ivory tower was destroyed not by youth, but by business and military recruiters on campus, military-sponsored research projects, and the ever-broadening trend of university leaders to participate in other political, economic, and social institutions. It's a useful volume, with well-reasoned arguments for the New Left. Its major contribution: to show that the generation gap can be bridged. The most distinguished oldsters are backing the young.

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown--A.M.P.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION