Resistance from the Right - (Justice, Power, and Politics) by Lauren Lassabe Shepherd (Paperback)

About the Book

"This history offers a new look at conservatives and education in the United States. Pivoting from studies that emphasize the dominance of progressivism on American college campuses during the late sixties to early seventies, Shepherd positions conservative critiques of and agendas in American higher education as more than a passing phase in her history of campus wars in the late twentieth century. Shepherd explores the ways conservative students, enabled by wealthy CEOs and right-wing intellectuals, worked to counter liberal traditions, movements, and other dynamics in the American academy through themes of counter-messaging, appeals to authority, and punishment from 1967-1972"--

Book Synopsis

Pivoting from studies that emphasize the dominance of progressivism on American college campuses during the late sixties and early seventies, Lauren Lassabe Shepherd positions conservative critiques of, and agendas in, American colleges and universities as an essential dimension of a broader conversation of conservative backlash against liberal education.

This book explores the story of how stakeholders in American higher education organized and reacted to challenges to their power from the New Left and Black Power student resistance movements of the late 1960s. By examining the range of conservative student organizations and coalition building, Shepherd shows how wealthy donors and conservative intellectuals trained future GOP leaders such as Karl Rove, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, Pat Buchanan, and others in conservative politics, providing them with tactics to consciously drive American politics and culture further to the authoritarian right and to "reclaim" American higher education.

Review Quotes

"Resistance from the Right confidently places conservative thinkers and sponsors in conversation with students in an effort to reveal the expanse of the cultural battlefield of higher education. Shepherd's meticulous and timely book highlights the right in the history of student activism."--Stefan M. Bradley, Amherst College

"Resistance from the Right places the campus conservatives of the late 1960s where they belong: not as a mere footnote, not as a mere quirk, but as a central formative part of American conservatism in the late twentieth century. This book is an absolute must read for anyone hoping to understand either American conservatism or American higher education."--Adam Laats, author of Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education

"A sobering and rigorous work of history, one with significant ramifications for the present. . . . Shepherd's account is a powerful corrective, a compelling narrative, and a frankly frightening parable."--Jacobin

"A thoroughly researched, revelatory political history with abundant relevance for today. . . . Shepherd presents compelling evidence for the ways that these groups, although a minority on campus, have exerted long-lasting influence."--Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)

"Any organization founded by William F. Buckley and M. Stanton Evans is not going to be supportive of free speech. As historian Lauren Lassabe Shepherd documents in Resistance from the Right, Young Americans for Freedom has been characterized from the start as a group of extremely pampered establishment scions who are prone to both self-pity and deploying their social and legal power to silence their political enemies."--Jeet Heer, The Nation

"As Shepherd argues in her book, the rise of the 'campus right' isn't just an important part of the history of higher education--it's also crucial for understanding the development of the modern republican party."--Politico

"Joining a robust body of literature about sixties conservatism, . . . Resistance from the Right reminds readers that the clashes over free speech, academic codes, and lawful assembly currently roiling American campuses are rooted in the recent past."--North Carolina Historical Review

"Thanks to a nearly century-long campaign by right-leaning pundits, writers, commentators, and media celebrities, the phrase 'campus activism' is almost exclusively associated with the political left. Shepherd shows us that this is only part of the story."--The Atlantic

"This book is a superb addition to the growing scholarship on the history of the American right. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd convincingly argues that right-wing students on American campuses during the 1960s were unpopular but that popularity was not a prerequisite for them to build power. Rather, the student right's path to power was its alignment with influential authorities both on and off campus. Based on voluminous archival research and interviews with former right-wing campus activists, Resistance from the Right is a must read! This book shows that our current campus wars are rooted in sixty years of right-wing organizing against real and perceived progressivism in the nation's universities."--Andrew Hartman, author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars