View source for Radical politics

{{Short description|Intent to transform or replace the fundamental principles of society}}
{{hatnote group|
{{distinguish|Extremism}}
{{for multi|historical political use of the term "radical"|Radicalism (historical)|other uses|Radical (disambiguation)}}
}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{party politics}}

'''Radical politics''' denotes the intent to transform or replace the {{wt|en|fundamental}} principles of a [[society]] or [[political system]], often through [[social change]], [[structural change]], [[revolution]] or radical [[reform]].<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan UK-2009">{{cite book|editor-first=Jonathan|editor-last=Pugh|year=2009|title=What is Radical Politics Today?|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=9780230236257}}</ref> The process of adopting radical views is termed [[radicalisation]].

The word {{wt|en|radical}} derives from the [[Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|radix}} ("root") and [[Late Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|radicalis}} ("of or pertaining to the root, radical"). Historically, political use of the term referred exclusively to a form of [[progressivism|progressive]] [[electoral reform]]ism, known as [[Radicalism (historical)|Radicalism]], that had developed in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the denotation has changed since its 18th century coinage to comprehend the entire [[political spectrum]], though retaining the connotation of "change at the root".<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan UK-2009" />

== History ==
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' traces usage of 'radical' in a political context to 1783.<ref>{{oed|radical}} "That the omnipotence of the state is not lodged, by the constitution, with the people, but with the whole legislative body in parliament assembled, was a radical doctrine of this obnoxious ministry."</ref> The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' records the first political usage of 'radical' as ascribed to [[Charles James Fox]], a [[Whigs (British political party)|British Whig Party]] [[Parliament of England|parliamentarian]] who in 1797 proposed a 'radical reform' of the [[electoral system]] to provide [[universal manhood suffrage]], thereby idiomatically establishing the term '[[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]]' as a label denoting supporters of the reformation of British Parliament.<ref name="Radical" />

Throughout the 19th century, the concept of radical politics broadened into a variety of political notions and doctrines. [[Party politics]] in England began to favour moderate positions, marginalising other movements into more politically aggressive factions.{{cn|date=August 2022}} As open advocacy of [[republicanism]] was illegal in [[France]] following the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Radicals emerged under similar reformist ideals as their British counterparts, though they later branched out to form the [[Radical-Socialist]] movement with a focus on proletarian solidarity.<ref name="Radical" /><ref>{{cite journal|first=J. E. S.|last=Hayward|title=The Official Philosophy of the French Third Republic: Leon Bourgeois and Solidarism|journal=International Review of Social History}}</ref> With the rise of [[Marxism]], the notion of radical politics shifted away from reformism and became more associated with revolutionary politics.<ref name="Radical" /> In [[United States politics]], the term is used [[pejorative]]ly among [[conservatism|conservatives]] and [[moderate]]s to denote political [[extremism]],<ref name="Radical">{{cite encyclopedia|title= Radical (ideologist)|access-date=January 10, 2020|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/radical-ideologist}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Mike|editor-last=Sanders|year=2001|section=General Introduction|section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9W4ucbBfkoQC&q=%22radicalism+is%22&pg=PR18 |title=Women and Radicalism in the Nineteenth Century|isbn=0-415-20526-3|page=xix|access-date=18 September 2020|quote=Conservatives frequently deployed 'radical' as a blanket term of abuse}}</ref> with the 19th-century ''[[Cyclopaedia of Political Science]]'' describing it as "characterized less by its principles than by the manner of their application".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first= Maurice|last=Block|author-link=Maurice Block|title=Radicalism|encyclopedia=Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States|year=1893|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-J3vOPWd50C&q=%22radicalism+is%22&pg=PA492 |page=492}}</ref>

During the 20th century, radical politicians took power in many countries across the world. Such radical [[leaders]] included [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Joseph Stalin]] in Russia, [[Mao Zedong]] in China, [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] in Iran, [[Adolf Hitler]] in Germany, as well as more mainstream radicals such as [[Ronald Reagan]] in the United States and [[Margaret Thatcher]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan UK-2009" /><ref>{{cite book|first=Clare|last=Short|chapter=The Forces Shaping Radical Politics Today|editor-first=Jonathan|editor-last=Pugh|year=2009|title=What is Radical Politics Today?|isbn=9780230236257|page=59|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |quote=For example, Mrs Thatcher was radical, the British National Party is radical and Hitler was radical.}}</ref>

== Positions ==
=== ''Status quo'' change ===
The common feature to all radical political forms is a view that some fundamental change is required of the ''[[status quo]]''. For an array of [[anti-capitalist]] forms, this manifests in [[anti-establishment]] reactions to modern [[neoliberal]] regimes.<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan UK-2009"/>

=== Concept of ideology ===
The ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' describes the radical concept of [[ideology]] to be that:
* While [[Social environment|social conditions]] exist "that are vulnerable to criticism and protest; ideology exists to protect these social conditions from attack by those who are [[disadvantaged]] by them."<ref name="Sypnowich">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Christine|last=Sypnowich|title=Law and Ideology|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|edition=Summer 2019|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/law-ideology/|date=2001-10-22}}</ref>
* "Ideology conserves by camouflaging flawed social conditions, giving an illusory account of their rationale or function, in order to [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimate]] and win acceptance of them."<ref name="Sypnowich"/>

This view reflects "a consensus among radicals of all stripes on the role of law as a {{wt|en|dissembling}} force to safeguard the unjust relations of the status quo."<ref name="Sypnowich"/> This radical critique of ideology is especially prominent within [[post-leftism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jason-mcquinn-post-left-anarchy-leaving-the-left-behind |first=Jason|last=McQuinn|author-link=Jason McQuinn|year=2004|title=Post-Left Anarchy: Leaving the Left Behind}}</ref> In addressing specific issues, some radical politics may completely forgo any overarching ideological plan.<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan UK-2009"/>

=== Difference from extremism ===
Astrid Bötticher identifies several differences between radicalism and [[extremism]], among them in goals (idealistic vs. [[Palingenesis#Politics and history|restorative]], emancipatory vs. anti-democratic), morals (particular vs. universal), approach towards diversity (acceptance vs. disdain), and use of violence (pragmatic and selective vs. legitimate and acceptable).<ref name="Bötticher 2017" />

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Anarchism]]
* [[Communism]]
* [[Populism]]
* [[Radical centrism]]
* [[Radical feminism]]
* [[Radical left (disambiguation)]]
* [[Radical right (disambiguation)]]
* [[Reactionary]]
* [[Revolutionary]]
* ''[[Rules for Radicals]]''
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
* <ref name="Bötticher 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Bötticher |first=Astrid |date=2017 |title=Towards Academic Consensus Definitions of Radicalism and Extremism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26297896 |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=73–77 |jstor=26297896 |issn=2334-3745}}</ref>}}

{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|first=Gilbert|last=Abcarian|year=1971|title=American Political Radicalism: Contemporary Issues and Orientations}}
* {{cite book|first=Edward|last=Walter|year=1992|title=The Rise and Fall of Leftist Radicalism in America|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=0-275-94276-7}}
* {{cite book|first=Luke|last=March|title=Radical Left Parties in Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xF3FBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1724|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-57897-7}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/MS.html The M and S Collection] at the [[Library of Congress]] contains materials on radical movements.

{{political spectrum}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Political spectrum]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]