Sociology

The Research Problem

It cannot be denied that the presence of leftist radicalism continues in American society, even though the US is one of the global leaders in advocating free trade. Amidst talks regarding the expansion of free trade and the need for further liberalization of the global economy, it can be seen that at the same time, leftist radical movements also hold protest against it and even advocates for the dismantling of the capitalist system as a whole, such the Revolutionary Communist Party of the USA and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

In this case, it is true that the sociology of leftist radicalism has brought about much attention to many sociological researches, with them trying to explain the different factors or the different determinants of why people actually engage in leftist radicalism, or left radical movements. However, recent sociological studies on leftist radicalism have failed to focus on the role of class consciousness in people engaged in leftist radicalism. Usually, sociological studies involved in the study of different leftist radical movements focus on psychological and interpersonal factors among specific groups of people who are engaged in leftist radicalism (Bittner, 1963). Such factors, for instance, includes the phenomena of political primitivism and differential socialization (Portes, 1971), political ignorance, social isolation andor social integration, economic insecurity, objective deprivation and subjective deprivation theories (Plutzer, 1987), and ideological factors such as historical conspiracy theories (Ferkiss 1962). In this case, there is a glaring lack of focus on the role of class consciousness in the rise of leftist radicalism in a society. In this case, this sociological research would then like to look at the role of class consciousness in the participation of people in leftist radical movements in the United States. This research does not aim to undermine or discredit the earlier researches on the interpersonal and psychological factors that motivate people to go to leftist extremism on the contrary, this research only aims to clarify and give light unto the role of class consciousness in the participation of people in leftist radicalism.

For the purpose of this research, leftist radicalism will be defined as the acceptance of a revolution as a legitimate means to remove an order that perceived to be unjust and to establish a regime which will improve the lot of the poor (Portes, 1971). Analyzing leftist radical movements needs to incorporate an analysis of class consciousness, for as Marx said, the recognition by the working class of the structural determinants of its situation and the correct identification of the classes are major factors promoting the political struggle of the proletariat (Portes, 1971). In addition, it is also said that individuals who are conscious in this sense will be much more likely to participate in a revolutionary process than...non-class-conscious persons (Ollman quoted in Portes, 1971).   In this categorization, then, the study would define class consciousness as recognition of the structural determinants of their exploited social condition in society.

In this definition of left radicalization and class consciousness, then, the study will actually try to look at the role of class consciousness (which in this sense can be attributed to their knowledge of structural determinants, including class, on their social condition in society) in the participation of people in leftist radical movements. It is also important to note the fact that the categorization of class consciousness according to their knowledge of structural determinants can be verifiable using questions in interviews, and can also be measured. In this case, the main research question would be
How does class consciousness play a role in peoples participation in leftist radical movements in the United States

Modified Literature Review
The article On the Interpretations of Class Consciousness by Alejandro Portes (1971) discusses the different interpretations of class consciousness in the context of leftist radical movements. According to Portes (1971) Marx concept of class consciousness has frequently been employed in political sociology to state the emergence of leftist radicalism...Most contemporary formulations, however, fails to specify whether the hypothesis predicts purely correlational or interactive relationships between frustration, structural blame, and leftist radicalism. In this case, the study actually made two tests one on the correlational relationship between class consciousness and leftist radicalism, while the other test studied the interactive relationship between class consciousness and leftist radicalism. The hypothesis of this study included to whether higher class consciousness (that is, more knowledge of structural determinants of their present social condition in society) will lead to a higher incidence of leftist radicalism (which is the case of the correlational relationship) (Portes, 1971). Meanwhile, the second hypothesis states that those who do not have knowledge in the structural determinants of the social order are stimulated among those who have knowledge of the structural determinants of their social condition in society. In this case, the study actually found out that the first hypothesis was correct, while the second hypothesis was not the case.

The different theories which determined leftist radical movements in the United States was the focus of the study by Eric Plutzer (1987). Determinants of Leftist Radical Beliefs in the United States A Test of Competing Theories (Plutzer, 1987) employed a national survey data which aimed to explain the participation of groups of people into leftist radical beliefs, as well as leftist radical sentiments. Among the three different theories that was expounded by Plutzer was the theory of political ignorance, the theory of social isolationsocial integration, economic insecurity, and objective deprivation and subjective deprivation theories. In this case, the study actually found out that the theories of political ignorance and social isolation did not have any significant results with them being determinants of leftist radical political beliefs, and that such theories must actually be seriously questioned (Plutzer, 1987). The study also noted the difficulty in interpreting results from the social integration and economic deprivation theory, while economic insecurity only received modest support (Plutzer, 1987). Finally, Plutzer in fact concluded that working class leftism is mediated by a sense of economic inequity, as well as financial self-interest. It suggests that there may be an American working class consciousness which is exceptional because it does not have the class imagery of traditional European socialism (Plutzer, 1987).

Another article that tries to discuss left radicalism in the United States is the work by Victor Ferkiss (1962) entitled Political and Intellectual Origins of American Radicalism, Right and Left. In this study, Ferkiss tries to trace the development of radical movements in America, as well as the participation that it gets from certain groups of people in American society, with a focus on the different intellectual and political milieu where it developed. According to Ferkiss (1962), The US owns its national existence to a revolution. Yet, when it comes into politics and into ideas, Americans are not a revolutionary people, noting the lack of support of the broad population of the country to radical and revolutionary movements. Looking at the political and intellectual roots that may have contributed to the presence of radical movements in the United States, Ferkiss started his inquiry on looking back at nineteenth century radicalism, the ideas of socialism and populism, isolationism by Roosevelt, and on McCarthyism. Ferkiss, in this study, focused on the future of the radical right, arguing that they mainly had an appeal to middle classes and professionals, and that their members were against much government control over the economy, including welfare state taxes and business regulations (Ferkiss, 1962). Ferkiss concluded here that the future of right wing radicalism depended upon the future of left wing radicalism.

Alejandro Portes Status Inconsistency and Lower Class Leftist Radicalism, tries to trace the hypothesis of status inconsistency on the development of leftist radicalism, particularly on the participation of the lower working class. In this case, Portes (1972) argues that few empirical researches have in fact been able to have generated more research than the hypothesis of status inconsistency which was forwarded by Lenski. The research of Portes attempts to apply the hypothesis of status inconsistency on a comparative setting, which was on this case Chile. Specifically, the study also aimed to assess the role of status inconsistency on the development of left wing radicalism in the context of developing countries (Portes, 1972). According to the research by Portes, status inconsistency was found out to be having positive effects on leftism and leftist radicalism (Portes, 1972) However, Portes also found out that there were statistically insignificant results between political attitudes and status inconsistency. Portes also argues that there is no guarantee that the psychological strain and frustration generated by status inconsistency must necessarily be translated into leftist political attitudes, which he said was important in measuring the effect of status inconsistency on participation of the lower working class on leftist radicalism (Portes, 1972).

Meanwhile, the article Radicalism and the Organization of Radical Movements by Egon Bittner (1963) was a study that aims to focus on the discovery of discriminable types or classes of person who are appropriately motivated to accept some pattern of belief as true and some pattern of conduct that accords with this belief as right which is essential in peoples participation in radical movements.  According to Bittner (1963), this fact is not currently focused on by many sociological researches dealing with left radical movements. According to this study, radical movements are actually forwarding organizational solutions to problems in society, and that it is important for these movements to amply include component parts for people to join their action.

Finally, another work of Alejandro Portes, Political Primitivism, Differential Socialization and Lower Class Leftist Radicalism, focuses on the effects of both political primitivism and differential socialization unto the participation of people into leftist radicalism, especially among the lower classes. According to Portes (1972), political primitivism argues that lower class experiences are not conducive to the levels of knowledge, tolerance, and political information necessary for understanding the rules of democratic practice. In this case, the theory also views the perspective that Leftist extremism is perceived not as a function of lower-class interests but of lower-class ignorance (Portes, 1972). In this scenario, the study actually found out that all of these theories have consistently failed to explain the participation of people into leftist radicalism, and that all of these theories must be re-examined in their core assumptions (Portes, 1972). In addition, it was also found out that frustrations and solitude in lower class life are not enough to bring about support to revolutionary movements. Identification of structural causes of ones situation...must be learned (Portes, 1972).

Given such works, it can be summarized that there are many studies who sought to empirically explain the participation of people in leftist radicalism however, most of them encountered theoretical shortcomings. In addition, most of them recommended looking into the structural causes that may have contributed to the participation in leftist radicalism which is the qualifications of social consciousness.

Formulation of Hypothesis
Marx argued, as well as later Marxist revolutionaries (Lenin, Guevarra), that it is not enough for the working class to experience their condition to be able to support revolution (Portes, 1971). On the contrary, they (Marx and Marxist revolutionaries) argue that class consciousness is essential in making them support revolution (Portes, 1971). Such conditions suggest the following general hypothesis the higher the social consciousness of a person is (that is, the higher hisher recognition of the different social determinants in society that determines their social position), the more likely their participation to leftist radicalism will be. The dependent variable here would be participation to leftist radicalism, while the independent variable here would be class consciousness. The goal of this paper, in this case, is to test this hypothesis into a developed country, the United States of America.

The Research Strategy Method
Following the previous sociological studies on leftist extremism, this study will define leftist radicalism as the acceptance of a revolution as a legitimate means to remove an order that perceived to be unjust and to establish a regime which will improve the lot of the poor (Portes, 1971). Meanwhile, the definition of class consciousness will be the recognition of the structural determinants of their social condition in society. In this definition of class consciousness, the researcher believes that categorizations of ones recognition of structural determinants of society to their social condition can be made and verified empirically, without altering the basic idea that was forwarded by Marx. However, it is also true that there would be limitations that will be faced in this study. First, although it is true that leftist radical movements in the United States is legal (such as the Communist Party of the USA, the Revolutionary Communist Party of the USA, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization or FRSO), it is also true that they are regularly monitored by state security agencies, due to their militant agitation activities, and their call to overthrow the present capitalist system in the country. In this case, the research would maximize the democratic space that is available. The data for this study will be collected from a sample population of 1000 adults from each of the areas where leftist radical movements are dominant the California Bay Area, the Chicago Metropolitan Area, and the New York Greater Metropolitan Area. The sample population will be randomly selected from factories, slum areas, and schools from each of the focus areas. This study will adopt how Portes (1971) operationalized the variable class consciousness. This includes the arithmetic mean of three variables 1. the respondents party preference (where the Republican, Democratic, and other conservative, libertarian and rightist parties will be scored as 1 center-left and green parties will be scored as 2 and where the RCPUSA, CPUSA, RFSO, and other Marxist socialist and communist parties will be scored as 3) 2. the political preference of the individual (where rightism will be scored as 1, centrism as 2, and leftism as 3) and 3. the respondents attitude to a socialist revolution in the country (with the very bad and bad scored as 1, the undecided as scored by 2, and the good and very good scored as 3). In addition, the study will operationalize the variable class consciousness (that is, ones recognition of the social determinants of their exploited social conditions) into the following 1. their perception of their exploitation in society (wherein they will be asked if they feel that they are exploited in society, with strongly agree assigned the highest score given fixed alternatives) 2. their recognition that the dominant social structuration of society is to blame for their exploited social conditions (wherein they will be asked to whether they believe that the present social structure is to blame for their exploited condition in society, with strongly agree assigned the highest score given fixed alternatives) and 3. their recognition that the capitalist class are to blame for their exploited social conditions (wherein they will be asked to whether they believe that the capitalist class is to blame for their exploited social conditions, with strongly agree assigned the highest score given fixed alternatives).

Ethical Considerations
In this case, it is true that there are certain ethical considerations to be looked into. The aim of the research will surely be explained to all respondents prior to the conduct of the survey, with the assurance that they will not be harmed in any way. In addition, due to the fact that it is very probable that state security agencies are monitoring the activities of leftist radical movements and its participants, the respondents personal information will surely remain confidential, and will not be divulged in any way without their prior consent. Also, the researcher will ensure that the research will be conducted in a place where the respondents are most comfortable.

Practical Implications
The researcher believes that this study will help society, especially in the academic sector, know the probable reasons why people are participating in leftist radical movements, as well as to the clarification of the role of social consciousness in this process. In addition, the researcher also believes that this study will surely help avoid prejudices regarding leftist extremism, as well as to clarify on the issues regarding the ideological and factors that contributes to leftist radicalism, without dismissing it as outdated and merely as a result of hate for dominant social institutions.