The New Communalists and the New Left
Fred Turner depicts the New Communalists as being a contingent oriented primarily on changing the socio-consciousness of the era rather than achieving the progressive and leftist political shifts that the New Left organized itself around. That the New Communalists embraced the innovations of cybernetic technology is not surprising to me though it seems like the language to distinguish these two groups, the New Communalists from the New Left, is steeped in pitting a seemingly radical yet debatably apolitical ethos against a social justice centered movement wedded to effecting systemic change. The New Communalists wanted to get rid of the hierarchical structure of power and communication whereas the New Left sought to augment the structure of the systems of power in place. Both groups were informed by the unease of the Post-World War II Nuclear age that arose in during Cold War era, however the New Left took a more traditional course of action through utilizing common political organizing tactics to confront the gross inequities that American Society was facing at that time – namely via the Civil Rights movement and Anti-Vietnam War activism. This type of action characterized the types of relationships to power and information that allowed for a type of communal basis within the New Left. The New Communalists were distrustful of everybody – the left, the right, the state, and activists that were aligned with changing the state.
To me the New Communalists have a Libertarian vibe – I could definitely see some intellectual and political thinking in common with both groups – as if the N.C. begat the Libertarian movement. I guess that makes sense though as the N.C. were enthusiastic adopters and supporters of the type of university – military – science collaborative efforts to develop new cybernetic technology – an interesting amalgam of state and secular systems united to essentially think outside of the box – even though these establishments are the “box”. I guess one of the main appeals is this sort of generalist approach that the scientists and technologists brought to the collaborative efforts – the notion of workflow is not dependent on staying in ones lane per se as much as it is concerned with exploratory and entrepreneurial spirit. This is the ethos that the New Communalists seemed to thrive off of – and the objective of their desire to be a part of a consciousness shifting movement. I do understand and sort of respect the culture war that it seems like the New Communalists are depicted by Turner as waging in their awe and adoption of cybernetic innovation as it relates to a new emerging way of being or consciousness not dependent on the static systems of power that determined access and mobility of information. But anytime anyone goes off the grid or seeks to create a community that is essentially separatist or seeking to sever ties with the society from which its discontent sprung, it’s difficult for me as an outsider to not have a skeptical take on their ideological platform.
The New Left appears sort of grumpy and luddite-like in Turner’s estimation – but I suppose this is just an assessment of other writer’s depictions of the social justice led movement. I gathered that the New Left was interested in breaking down the trifecta of information – knowledge power producing machine that was the academic/military/industrial complex. I bet folks from the New Left would have been on board with a redistribution of the fruits of that cybernetic rhetoric – but my guess is that the kind of political and activist work against structural racism and the war machine that was going on precluded them from gaining access to the vested interests of that trifecta.
Perhaps I’m just jaded but I also had the sense that the New Communalists were largely white artsy weirdoes. That’s the subtext I picked up on.
