Little 'Red Scares'

Anti-communism has long been a potent force in American politics, capable of gripping both government and popular attention. Nowhere is this more evident that the two great 'red scares' of 1919-20 and 1946-54; the latter generally - if somewhat inaccurately - termed McCarthyism. The interlude between these two major scares has tended to garner less attention, but as this volume makes clear, the lingering effects of 1919-20 and the gathering storm-clouds of 'McCarthyism' were clearly visible throughout the 20s and 30s, even if in a more low-key way. Indeed, the period between the two great red scares was marked by frequent instances of political repression, often justified on anti-communist grounds, at local, state and federal levels. Yet these events have been curiously neglected in the history of American political repression and anti-communism, perhaps because much of the material deals with events scattered in time and space which never reached the intensity of the two great scares. By focusing on this twenty-five year 'interim' period, the essays in this collection bridge the gap between the two high-profile 'red scares' thus offering a much more contextualised and fluid narrative for American anti-communism. In so doing the rationale and motivations for the 'red scares' can be seen as part of an evolving political landscape, rather than as isolated bouts of hysteria exploding onto - and then vanishing from - the political scene. Instead, a much more nuanced appreciation of the conflicting interests and fears of government, politicians, organised labour, free-speech advocates, employers, and the press is offered, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand the political history of modern America.

Robert Justin Goldstein is professor emeritus of political science at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA, and currently research associate at the Center for Russian, E. European & Eurasian Studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, USA.

Contents: Preface: Little' Red scares': anti-Communism and political repression in the United States, 1921-1946, Robert Justin Goldstein; After the Red scare: civil liberties in the era of Harding and Coolidge, Ernest Freeberg; The FBI and the politics of anti-Communism, 1920-1945: a prelude to power, Athan Theoharis; Citizens versus outsiders: anti-Communism at state and local levels, 1921-1946, M.J. Heale; Red herrings? The Fish Committee and anti-Communism in the early Depression years, Alex Goodall; Little Red schoolhouses? Anti-Communists and education in an 'age of conflicts', Timothy Cain; Fighting the 'Red danger': employers and anti-Communism, Chad Pearson; Leftward ramparts: labor and anticommunism between the World Wars, Markku Ruotsila; Premature McCarthyism: Spanish Republican aid and the origins of Cold War anti-Communism, Eric Smith; Laying the foundations for the post-World War II Red scare: investigating the left-feminist consumer movement, Landon R.Y. Storrs; The Dies Committee v. the New deal: real Americans and the unending search for un-Americans, Kenneth O' Reilly; The long Black and Red scare: anti-Communism and the African American freedom struggle, Robbie Lieberman; Shooting rabid dogs: New York's Rapp-Coudert attack on teachers unions, Stephen Leberstein; The history of the Smith Act and the Hatch Act: anti-Communism and the rise of the conservative coalition in Congress, Rebecca Hill; Index.