Seven Social Movements That Changed America

by Linda Gordon

A brilliantly conceived and provocative work from an award-winning historian that examines how seven twentieth-century social movements transformed America.

How do social movements arise, wield power, and decline? Renowned scholar Linda Gordon investigates these questions in a groundbreaking work, narrating the stories of many of America’s most influential twentieth-century social movements. Beginning with the turn-of-the-century settlement house movement, Gordon then scrutinizes the 1920s Ku Klux Klan and its successors, the violent American fascist groups of the 1930s. Profiles of two Depression-era movements follow—the Townsend campaign that brought us Social Security and the creation of unemployment aid. Proceeding then to the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, which inspired the civil rights movement and launched Martin Luther King Jr.’s career, the narrative barrels into the 1960s–70s with Cesar Chavez’s farmworkers’ union. The concluding chapter illumines the 1970s women’s liberation movement through the dramatic story of the Boston-area organizations Bread and Roses and the Combahee River Collective. Separately and together, these seven chapters animate American history, reminding us of the power of collective activism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, Audiobook, Social Justice, Historical

528 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2025

About the author

Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University. She is the author of numerous books and won the Bancroft Prize for The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction. She lives in New York. "

Reviews

[Nash Δ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book offers a thought provoking examination of several pivotal grassroots movements that shaped the nation between the late 19th and 20th centuries. Covering a spectrum of ideologies, Gordon explores the settlement house movement, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, the Townsend old age pension campaign, unemployment relief activism, the Montgomery bus boycott, the United Farm Workers movement, and 1970s women’s liberation.

Her analysis emphasizes how these movements, whether progressive or reactionary, were driven by ordinary people, working together, to enact change both socially and politically. She highlights both well known figures, such as Cesar Chavez and Rosa Parks, and lesser known activists whose contributions were crucial but are often overlooked. The book also examines the strategies and challenges these movements faced, offering valuable lessons on how activism can succeed or falter.

As I've come to expect from Gordon, it's well researched and well written. The book provides essential insights into the power of collective action and its lasting impact on American society. It is a must read for those interested in history, activism, and social justice.

[Liv]

Gordon reminds North Americans of seven key movements. Focusing on social movements like unionization, housing, and social security, Gordon's exploration of these topics give important context for Americans' ongoing battle for these rights. Each chapter can be read separately and make an excellent reading for high school and college students alike.

ARC given by publisher for honest review.

[Zane Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done with a very interesting structure. Gordon has written a typology of social movements, allowing for easy comparison between them.

The book is not prescriptive, rightly so, and acknowledges that what makes a social movement take off remains a mystery.

Still, there’s a lot here for anyone aspiring to change society. It makes me wonder what social movements I should get out there and start supporting.

I especially liked the final section on intersectionality within feminism.

The largest flaw of the book is that Gordon simply can’t fit all of the history of these movements into the small chapters allotted to them. This makes the level of detail vs narrative coherency fluctuate a lot, with many chapters having almost minichapters within them, making the chronology of each chapter challenging to follow at times.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is obviously Gordon's wheelhouse. There is a lot of good information here. I got a better understanding of certain aspects of each social movement covered. It suffers from some of your standard problems of academic fare marketed as pop history:

1- This was a SLOG.

2- Gordon assumes you have the basics of each social movement.

3- Instead of an overview of the social movement and analysis of how the movement changed America (which was my expectation from the title and description), this work is more the analysis of a specific internal aspect of each movement. It felt much more like disjointed academic articles than a cohesive work.

4- Modernist biases, especially in the earlier chapters.

That said, if you do have the basics and want more analysis of any of them, this work is useful. Light reading for an overview it is not.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting history book, very informative and well organized, and covering topics that are very relevant to current events. The situations we get to deal with in modern politics are a product of these past movements and their stories, even if we rarely consider how we got the systems we have now, and how things might have gone differently. Interesting enough for history readers, but also accessible enough for readers who don't often read history or nonfiction.

[Mark O'brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reading is slow, but that's because the book is packed with insights into some of the leading social movements in U.S. history. I especially liked how she showed the various iterations of the Klux Klan and a branch that joined the US Nazi movement. She also does a nice job spelling out how different settlement houses were formed and discussing the Townshend movement, which I never heard of until now.

[Holly Rousseau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book and well written. I got bogged down in the acronym soup and sort of stopped reading them or trying to keep track of which one went where. Same with the names. This book would be a great resource if you were studying any of the subjects within or if you were someone who really researched your nonfiction topics. As a casual reader who was just cursorily interested, it was a lot of information.

[Northumberland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly conceived and provocative work from an award-winning historian that examines how seven twentieth-century social movements transformed America.

How do social movements arise, wield power, and decline? Renowned scholar Linda Gordon investigates these questions in a groundbreaking work, narrating the stories of many of America’s most influential twentieth-century social movements.

[Christy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I learned a lot, especially about the UFW and the struggle for farm workers. Definitely a difficult read at points, because it was so academic. It dragged on in spots and it felt like I was forcing myself to continue. It felt like there were times she repeated herself unnecessarily as well. Maybe this was too academic and scholarly for me at this point.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful summary and analysis of seven social movements in the US. I found it interesting (and helpful) that she includes white supremacy as one of the social movements. She provides a brief history and account of each movement's rise, leaders and mechanisms for change followed by a comparative analysis from the lens of class, race, gender and education.

[Sarah Jurinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love learning about the history that isn’t taught to us in schools. This book is that! It can absolutely be dry at times (it’s by a historian) but the content is very interesting. Learning more about the social movements that shaped our current reality is a valuable endeavor.

[Craigtator · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seven independent albeit interesting essays masquerading as an integrated argument.

[Kidlitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual and gripping take on an aspect of US history that should be better know -would that this book be added to curriculums across the country, though that is probably too much to hope.

[mol]

1 star, unfinished
dropped at page 35

#STOPMAKINGNONFICTIONSEEMBORING2K25

[John Siphers]

DNF - way more detailed and scholarly than I was looking for; just not for me.