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Front porch politics : the forgotten heyday of American activism in the 1970s and 1980s / Michael Stewart Foley.

by Foley, Michael S.

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New York : Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2013.

Political participation -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Protest movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Political activists -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

United States -- Social conditions -- 1945-

United States -- Economic conditions -- 1945-

United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989.

9780809054824 (hardback)

0809054825 (hardback)

x, 401 pages ; 24 cm

This is the dawning of the age of self-reliance -- The long shadow of segregation -- Sexual politics, family politics -- Energy, health, and safety -- No nukes! -- Toxic waste in the basement -- Fighting for factory jobs and factory towns -- The heartland uprising -- Revolts at home -- The politics of homelessness -- AIDS politics -- Abortion wars.

"An on-the-ground history of ordinary Americans who took to the streets when political issues became personal. It is widely believed that Americans of the 1970s and '80s were exhausted by the upheavals of the '60s and eager to retreat to the private realm. When they did take action, it was mainly to express their disillusionment with government by supporting the right. In fact, as Michael Stewart Foley shows, neither of these assumptions is correct. On the community level, the 1970s and '80s saw vibrant new forms of political activity emerge. Tenants challenged landlords, farmers practiced civil disobedience to protect their land, and laid-off workers asserted a right to own their idled factories. Activists fought to defend the traditional family or to expand the rights of women, while entire towns organized to protest the toxic sludge in their basements. In all these arenas, Americans were propelled by their own experiences into the public sphere. Disregarding conventional ideas of "left" and "right," they turned to political action when they perceived an immediate threat to the safety and security of their families, homes, or dreams. Front Porch Politics is a people's history told through on-the-ground experiences. Recalling crusades famous and forgotten, Foley shows how Americans followed their outrage into the streets. Their distinctive style of visceral, local, and highly personal activism remains a vital resource for the renewal of American democracy"--

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