Political Extremism and Radicalism

Political Extremism and Radicalism is a compilation of rare and unique archival collections focused on political extremism and radical thought. A broad assortment of political movements from both far-right and radical left political groups are covered. The diverse mixture of materials, including periodicals, campaign propaganda, government records, oral histories and ephemera allow researchers to explore unorthodox social and political movements and understand what impact they have had on today’s society. Records provide a behind-the-scenes view of often inaccessible groups, such as the John Birch Society or the Black Panther Party.

This resource is valuable to researchers in international and American history, politics, international relations, government studies, and broadly applicable to additional topics such as gender, sociology, psychology, and religious studies.

Modules Include:

• Far-Right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia in the Twentieth Century:
  Explores the development, actions, and ideologies behind extremism and radicalism in the twentieth century. Combines content on Far-Right and fascist movements alongside significant coverage of radical left groups. Material has been sourced from various locations, including the Searchlight Archive, UK Home Office and Security Service files on right-wing extremists, suspected communists and terrorists, and the American Radicalism Collection from Michigan State University.
• Far-Right Groups in America:
  Centers around groups considered to be on the right of the political spectrum, with a particular focus on white supremacist and nationalist groups in the United States such as the Ku Klux Klan, the National White People’s Party (aka American Nazi Party) and the Citizens’ Council. The archive features content from the University of California, Davis; the University of California, Santa Barbara; Idaho State University; the University of Iowa and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
• Global Communist and Socialist Movements:

Rare, firsthand narratives chronicling communist, socialist, and Far Left groups and figures across the world’s capitalist nations. Explore political ideologies such as Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, Trotskyism, and anarchism across different countries, as well as the world’s response to the Russian Revolution, the rise of the Soviet Union, and the Red Scare.

Provider: Gale
Coverage: 1766 – 2010s

This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.