HSY4980

The American Right

Tony Wood

8 points
* One two-hour seminar per week
* Second semester
* Clayton

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should become familiar with the classic statements of belief and practice in the American conservative tradition, extend their understanding of the political, social and cultural background of the contemporary American right and the secondary literature on it, and develop their skills in the evaluation of these issues through seminar participation, written work, and examination.

Synopsis This subject will examine these questions: What is conservatism? How does the British (and Australian) conservative tradition differ from the American? What is the significance of the current prominence of both the religious right and the Republican Party on the American Scene? These questions will be examined via a series of introductory seminars, and the subject will then proceed to a detailed examination of conservative, reactionary, and far-right movements and beliefs in recent and contemporary American political culture, from the 1930s to the election of 1996.

Assessment Seminar paper (1500 words): 20%
* Review essay (2500 words): 40%
* Examination (2 hours): 40%

Recommended texts

Buckley W F (ed.) American conservative thought in the twentieth century Bobbs-Merrill, 1970
Crawford A Thunder on the right: The new right and the politics of resentment Pantheon, 1980
Gottfried P and Fleming T The Conservative movement Twayne, 1988
Guttmann A The conservative tradition in America OUP, 1967
Hamby A L Liberalism and its challengers: From FDR to Bush 2nd edn., OUP, 1992
Harbour W R Foundations of conservative thought: An Anglo-American tradition in perspective U Notre Dame, 1982
Hoeveler J D Watch on the right: Conservative intellectuals in the Reagan Era U Wisconsin P, 1991
Hunter J D Culture wars Basic, 1991
Kirk R The conservative mind from Burke to Santayana Faber, 1953
Lienesch M Redeeming America U North Carolina P, 1993
Nash G H The conservative intellectual movement in America since 1945 Basic, 1976
Thorne M J American conservative thought since World War Two: The core ideas Greenwood, 1990