Paul Buhle
Encyclopedia
Paul Merlyn Buhle is a (retired) Senior Lecturer at Brown University
, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism
in the United States
and the Caribbean
, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes. He is the authorized biographer of C. L. R. James
.
's antiwar activities. He received a Master's degree from the University of Connecticut
(in 1967) and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
(in 1975). He had been active in the civil rights movement in SDS, and a member for some months of the Socialist Labor Party. In 2006-07, he was one of the founding figures of the new Students for a Democratic Society
, and more recently a leader of the Movement for a Democratic Society.
Buhle was founding editor of the journal Radical America
(1967–1999), an unofficial organ of Students for a Democratic Society, founder of Cultural Correspondence (1977–83), a journal of popular culture studies, and founder and director of the Oral History of the American Left archive at New York University
in 1976. In Rhode Island, he co-founded the Rhode Island Labor History Society, was active in labor history and labor support activities and produced several popular histories of the state's labor movement. He also produced Vanishing Rhode Island, a pictorial history and plea for preservation; and with his students, Underground Rhode Island.' He has contributed frequently to the journals and newspapers The Nation, The Village Voice, Monthly Review, Jewish Currents, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Buhle is the co-author of four books on the history of the Hollywood Blacklist
and the editor of a series of graphic non-fiction works by American comics artists and writers, among them Harvey Pekar
, Sabrina Jones and Sharon Rudahl.
until accepting an appointment as Lecturer in History and American Civilization at Brown University in 1995. In 1982-'83 he created an archive at the Tamiment Library, New York University, on the Oral History of the American Left, with associated research on ethnic radicalism. He has served on the Board of the Minnesota Review, as Contributing Editor to Tikkun magazine, and on the editorial advisory board on Radical Americas (an on-line publication of MDS). He has also been a sponsor of New Politics (magazine)
and an advisor on documentary biographies of Howard Zinn
, comic artist Will Eisner
, and the labor martyrs Sacco and Vanzetti
, and served as historian for the radio series Grandma was an Activist in the 1980s.
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes. He is the authorized biographer of C. L. R. James
C. L. R. James
Cyril Lionel Robert James , who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J.R. Johnson, was an Afro-Trinidadian historian, journalist, socialist theorist and essayist. His works are influential in various theoretical, social, and historiographical contexts...
.
Biography
Paul Buhle graduated from the University of Illinois in 1966, where he had been a spokesperson for the chapter of Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
's antiwar activities. He received a Master's degree from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
(in 1967) and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
(in 1975). He had been active in the civil rights movement in SDS, and a member for some months of the Socialist Labor Party. In 2006-07, he was one of the founding figures of the new Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (2006 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society is a United States student organization representing left wing beliefs. It takes its name and inspiration from the original SDS of 1960-1969, then the largest radical student organization in US history...
, and more recently a leader of the Movement for a Democratic Society.
Buhle was founding editor of the journal Radical America
Radical America
Radical America was a left wing political magazine in the United States established in 1967. The magazine was founded by Paul Buhle and Mary Jo Buhle, activists in Students for a Democratic Society and served during its first few years of existence as an unofficial theoretical journal of that...
(1967–1999), an unofficial organ of Students for a Democratic Society, founder of Cultural Correspondence (1977–83), a journal of popular culture studies, and founder and director of the Oral History of the American Left archive at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1976. In Rhode Island, he co-founded the Rhode Island Labor History Society, was active in labor history and labor support activities and produced several popular histories of the state's labor movement. He also produced Vanishing Rhode Island, a pictorial history and plea for preservation; and with his students, Underground Rhode Island.' He has contributed frequently to the journals and newspapers The Nation, The Village Voice, Monthly Review, Jewish Currents, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Buhle is the co-author of four books on the history of the Hollywood Blacklist
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
and the editor of a series of graphic non-fiction works by American comics artists and writers, among them Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar
Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...
, Sabrina Jones and Sharon Rudahl.
Career
Buhle taught at the Cambridge-Godard Graduate School, 1971–73 and lectured at the Rhode Island School of DesignRhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
until accepting an appointment as Lecturer in History and American Civilization at Brown University in 1995. In 1982-'83 he created an archive at the Tamiment Library, New York University, on the Oral History of the American Left, with associated research on ethnic radicalism. He has served on the Board of the Minnesota Review, as Contributing Editor to Tikkun magazine, and on the editorial advisory board on Radical Americas (an on-line publication of MDS). He has also been a sponsor of New Politics (magazine)
New Politics (magazine)
New Politics is an independent socialist journal founded in 1961 and still published in the United States today. While it is inclusive of articles from a variety of left-of-center positions, the publication leans strongly toward a Third camp, democratic Marxist perspective, placing it typically to...
and an advisor on documentary biographies of Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
, comic artist Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, and the labor martyrs Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
, and served as historian for the radio series Grandma was an Activist in the 1980s.
Books
- Co-author, with Howard ZinnHoward ZinnHoward Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
and Mike KonopackiMike KonopackiMike Konopacki is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.- Background and early career :A 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mike Konopacki (1951? - ) is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.-...
of A People's History of American EmpireA People's History of American EmpireA People's History of American Empire is a 2008 graphic history by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle. The book combines material from Zinn's history book A People's History of the United States and his autobiography You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train with new material from other...
(2008), - Editor, Che Guevara, a Graphic Biography (2008)
- Editor, Jews and American Popular Culture, 3 volumes (2007)
- Author, Tim Hector, Caribbean Radical (2006)
- Co-editor, Wobblies! A Graphic history of the Industrial Workers of the World (2005)
- Co-editor, The New Left Revisited (2004)
- Co-author, Hide in Plain Sight, the Blacklistees in Film and Television, 1950-2002 (2003)
- Co-author, Radical Hollywood (2001)
- Co-author, A Very Dangerous Citizen, Abraham Lincoln Polonsky and the Hollywood Left (1999)
- Co-editor, Encyclopedia of the American Left (1990 and 1998)
- Co-author, The Tragedy of Empire: A biography of William Appleman Williams (1995)
- Author, The Artist as Revolutionary, C.L.R. James (1988)
- Author, Marxism in the United States (1987)
Articles
- " E.P. Thompson and his Critics ". TELOSTELOS (journal)Telos is an academic journal published in the United States. It was founded in May 1968 to provide the New Left with a coherent theoretical perspective. It sought to expand the Husserlian diagnosis of "the crisis of European sciences" to prefigure a particular program of social reconstruction...
49 (Fall 1981). New York: Telos Press
External links
- http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/power-to-the-panels-an-interview-with-paul-buhle
- http://www.counterpunch.org/seidman03082004.html Interview
- http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0403,hoberman3,50525,20.html Book review