One man's freedom fighter, another man's terrorist: Understanding radicalism in political struggles

A Centre for Modern Studies postgraduate forum seminar

• Alex Bowmer: Embedding the Truth: Protest, Repression and Political Radicalism in the 20th and 21st century.
• Tom Lennon: ‘Let us who believe in fighting fight like the devil.’ Violence and nonviolence in the US civil rights movement, 1918-1930.

‘Radicalism’ is one of the most controversial concepts in modern political discourse. The papers in this panel offer a starting point for thinking about what ‘radicalism’ might actually mean. One paper considers this question from a ‘macro’ level, the other through a ‘micro’ level case study. This seminar offers the opportunity to discuss ‘radicalism’ in an interdisciplinary framework which will challenge some of the common conceptions associated with modern debates about radicalism.