Radicals/Radicalism - Radical Liberalism, Radical Nationalism, Radical Socialism, Marxism, Radical Feminism, Radicalism In The Twenty-first Century
political word challenge scientific
Radix, the Latin word for root, is the origin of the word radical. In contemporary political philosophy, the term describes activists who challenge established views and who operate outside the parameters of social convention to achieve political aims, sometimes employing extreme or violent methods in that pursuit.
The concept of political radicalism evolved out of the language and logic of the scientific revolution when educated intellectuals began to view the world in scientific, secular terms.
It gained popularity during the Enlightenment as social theorists employed the new method of critical thinking to challenge traditional religious and political dogma.
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Political liberalism emerged in the seventeenth century, most notably in the work of John Locke (1632–1704). It spread to colonial America and France and became part of political discourse by the early eighteenth century. Locke's theory of government—that is, that the governed are sovereign and have the right to replace a dysfunctional, tyrannical government when needed—…
Early advocates of nationalism drew from the French example and sought republican freedom and unification. Most were liberals in the Enlightenment tradition. The exceptions, however, East Central Europe and the German states, rejected the liberal-rational tradition, preferring a folk community where emotion trumped reason and where the needs of the individual merged nicely with those of the state.…
Utopian socialism emerged as a rejoinder to liberal policies and practices during the Industrial Revolution and assumed different forms between 1816 and 1848. In England, Robert Owen (1771–1858) a civic-minded reformer experimented with planned communes in pursuit of the perfect socialist community. Owen's strong social consciousness and his belief in the power of science to create a…
While a genuine socialist movement existed in France prior to the publication of the Communist Manifesto in 1848, the real founder of modern socialism is Karl Marx. Marx's contribution to economic-political theory—the theory of surplus labor—drew from French socialism and Hegelian philosophy and posited that profits were wages stolen from laborers by those who controlled the m…
By definition all feminist movements are radical because they challenge established views. Nevertheless, most feminists would agree that modern radical feminism began with the women's movement in France and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. The publication of Germaine Greer's (b. 1939) The Female Eunuch (1970) and Simone de Beauvoir's (1908–1986) release in …
Since the 1990s, antiglobalization protestors have appeared throughout Europe and the United States. In June of 1999 demonstrators vandalized the city of Cologne, Germany, during the G8 Economic Summit and managed to disrupt business by staging a five-hour cyber attack upon computers. Financial districts were the target. Protestors repeated those tactics in November and December of 1999, at the me…
Bentham, Jeremy. "On the Principle of Utility." In Main Currents of Western Thought: Readings in Western European Intellectual History from the Middle Ages to the Present. 4th ed., edited by Franklin Le Van Baumer. New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press, 1978. Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). "Anti-Globalization: A Spreading Phenomenon." Repor…
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