Description: The Politics of Authenticity tells the story of the new left from an innovative perspective. Breaking new ground in cultural, political, and social history, Doug Rossinow illustrates the spiritual dimension of student activism. He provides the first account "from the bottom up", showing how this radical movement developed in a campus environment -- the University of Texas at Austin, one of the most important new left centers in the United States -- while linking local developments to the national scene.

Rossinow argues that the movement was deeply entwined with a personal quest for authenticity. This search reached a fever pitch during the decades of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s as a moral imperative that intersected with the struggle for social justice. Rossinow shows the continuity between the religious search for meaning in the 1950s and the secular search for wholeness and realness in the new left and the counterculture. He also demonstrates the pivotal role played by the civil rights movement in forging these connections in the minds of white American youth and explains the new left's role as a force acting on its own to foment rebellion in white America.

This is among the first studies to link the diverse strands of radical movements -- from women's liberation to civil rights. Rossinow revises traditional images of radicalism and offers fresh insights on the gendered nature of the struggle for authenticity, and the reaction of feminists to issues of masculinity among radical men. The Politics of Authenticity will profoundly influence the way American historians approach the 1960s and will fascinate general readers interested in the history of American radicalism.

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