The First Digital Archive on Far-Right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe and Australia
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. - April 25, 2018 - Gale, a Cengage company, is launching a new digital archive to help researchers explore the development, actions and ideologies behind political extremism. Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century: Far-right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe and Australia is the first digital archive documenting a range of radical right and fascist movements, communist and socialist groups and new left activists in never-before-digitized primary sources. By providing primary sources from a wide range of viewpoints in one meticulously indexed resource, researchers can make comparisons and connections that were not previously discoverable, enabling greater understanding and open dialogue on the topic. Read our blog about the new archive, here.
In today's world, there is an increasing polarization around social and political issues that challenge on-campus efforts to champion diversity and inclusion, teach critical thinking skills and foster open dialogue. Faculty and students need credible information to adequately address these issues in the classroom and beyond. Gale's new Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century collection provides essential historical context on the controversial issues of extremism and radicalism, and how they have shaped the past, present and future of the world's political and civil rights history.
View the video on the new archive, here.
The archive contains more than 600,000 pages of content and more than 42 audio histories with full transcripts, making it the largest and most comprehensive resource of its kind. It offers researchers a diverse range of content, including campaign materials, propaganda, government records and various ephemera that allow researchers to explore extremism and radicalism in new and innovative ways. Researchers will gain unparalleled access to information on the extreme right, new left and radical activist groups, such as the Klu Klux Klan, the Communist Party of the United States, National Socialist Party of Australia and the British Union of Fascists.
Additionally, researchers of contemporary topics can examine the origins and development of present-day issues, such as the resurgence of right-wing politics, evolution of civil rights movements and the nature of extreme or radical political thought.
Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century source archives include:
- The American Radicalism Collection (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI): Collection of ephemera on radical political groups across a range of extremist movements, including those involved in religion, race, gender, the environment and equal rights.
- The Hall-Hoag Collection of Dissenting and Extremist Printed Propaganda (Brown University, Providence, RI): Includes printed propaganda from U.S. anti-integrationist, anti-Semitic and racist groups.
- The Searchlight Archive (University of Northampton, U.K.): Consists of documents, audio histories and back issues of Searchlight Magazine (1965-2017) from Searchlight Associates, an information service that aims to expose racist and fascist groups.
- The National Archives, U.K.: Includes government documents relating to inter- and post-war British extremist movements, including Security Service files and Home Office papers.
View/download Images from the Political Extremism & Radicalism archive, here
"Gale created the Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century archive to provide historical context to increasingly polarized conversations," said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. "We believe that from deeper knowledge comes greater understanding. So, we thank our source libraries for making their remarkable collections globally accessible through Gale Primary Sources."
Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century will be available in June 2018. The archive is the latest release in Gale's award-winning suite of twentieth century primary source archives, helping researchers discover the hidden histories behind today's most critical conversations including gender, race, diversity and sexuality.
Gale will host a launch event and showcase the new archive at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, June 22-25 in New Orleans at the Gale booth #2331.
For more information, visit Gale's Political Extremism & Radicalism in the Twentieth Century page.
About Cengage and Gale
Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a Cengage company, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 60 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights - where, when, and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.
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