History of Utah radicalism
Subtitle: startling, socialistic, and decidedly revolutionary
By: John S. McCormick, John R Sillito
Contributors: Sillito, John R.
Publisher: Utah State University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Logan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 456
ISBN-13: 9780874218145; 9780874218480; 9780874218152
Subjects: Politics and government; HISTORY / Revolutionary; Socialism; HISTORY / Social History; Radicalism; History; Socialist Party (U.S.); HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
Description: "Utah, now one of the most conservative states, has a long tradition of left-wing radicalism. Early Mormon settlers set a precedent with the United Order and other experiments with a socialistic economy. The tradition continued into the more recent past with New Left, anti-apartheid, and other radicals. Throughout, Utah radicalism usually reflected national and international developments. Recounting its long history, McCormick and Sillito focus especially on the Socialist Party of America, which reached a peak of political influence in the first two decades of the twentieth century--in Utah and across the nation.  At least 115 Socialists in over two dozen Utah towns and cities were elected to office in that period, and on seven occasions they controlled governments, of five different municipalities. This is a little-known story worth a closer look. Histories of Socialism in the United States have tended to forsake attention to details, to specific, local cases and situations, in favor of broader overviews of the movement. By looking closely at Utah's experience, this book helps unravel how American Socialism briefly flowered and rapidly withered in the early twentieth century. It also broadens conventional understanding of Utah history"--

"McCormick and Sillito write about the Utah manifestations of the international Socialist movement, in particular the Socialist Party of America, which reached a peak of political success and influence in the early twentieth century--in Utah as well as the nation at large. That history is the centerpiece of this narrative, but the authors connect it to a broader tradition of radicalism in Utah. As they state, "Utah has a long-standing radical tradition of such movements, beginning with the arrival of the Mormons in 1847 and continuing to the present, that have challenged the fundamental principles on which society has been established and have offered alternative visions of how to live and organize life." The Socialist Party was particularly successful in the first two decades of the twentieth century. At least 115 Socialists in over two-dozen Utah towns and cities were elected to office in that period, and on seven occasions Socialists held governing majorities, in five different municipalities. The authors note that the historiography of Socialism in the United States has been limited by a lack of attention to details, to case studies, and to specific actualities but has instead favored general overviews, and therefore, they seek to contribute to a better understanding of what specifically was involved in Socialism's brief flowering and rapid decline in the first part of the last century"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The better land of socialism : Utah's radical roots; Mormons, godbeites, liberals, Knights of Labor, and populists; title: Everyone is invited to come and hear about the new gospel : an overview of socialism in Utah; title: The destruction of love is the very genius of the competitive system : the rhetoric of Utah socialism; title: A future "Living in the light of a better day" : the membership of Utah's Socialist Party; title: The gospel of Jesus and the gospel of Marx : Christian socialism in Utah; title: Obtaining control of the government and abolishing the capitalist system through the ballot and other constructive methods : respectable reformers; Utah socialists in power, 1900-1925; title: The house was full, and the band was out, and a lively time prevailed : Utah's socialist culture; title: Socialists, with their tireless activity, which distinguishes their propaganda, distributed thousands of copies of their papers : Utah's socialist press; title: The socialist department of the morning examiner; conducted by the Socialist Party of Ogden; title: I listened to your lecture and asked you questions; title: and have been an agitator for socialism ever since : socialist speaking in the public sphere; title: The campaign to "Chase socialism and the expression of socialist ideas from the streets" : the right of socialists to speak and the politics of the public sphere; title: Our constant effort is to keep our people from joining such organizations : the campaign of the Mormon Church against socialism; pt. I; title: The campaign of the Mormon Church against socialism; pt. II; title: The defense of capital and the construction of a capitalist ideology; title: Afterword : "It was all wrong. It all hd to change. It all had to stop" : radicalism in Utah, 1920-2007. an overview.