Fred L. Pincus Livres

In Confessions of a Radical Academic, Fred L. Pincus immerses readers in the complex lives of American Communists during the 1940s to early 1960s. Growing up in Los Angeles, Fred and his sister experienced a childhood marked by the fear of revealing their parents' communist beliefs. Their East LA community, comprised of Eastern European Jewish immigrants seeking freedom, faced the harsh realities of the McCarthy era, including the disappearance of teachers and relatives. Fred's parents were deeply involved in labor struggles and leftist politics, often disrupted by FBI raids and the looming threat of HUAC. Through this engaging memoir, Pincus explores the challenges of pursuing idealism for a just society amid the oppressive structures of academia. His journey as a sociologist, father, and husband reveals a commitment to political principles while confronting issues such as race relations, radical activism, affirmative action, censorship, and university politics. Pincus's reflections offer a poignant portrait of a man navigating the complexities of his beliefs and the academic landscape. A retired Emeritus Professor of Sociology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, he has published extensively and continues to reside in Baltimore with his wife, Natalie Sokoloff.

What is diversity? How does prejudice show itself? What are the societal consequences of discrimination? Has anything changed over the past 50 years? These are just some of the questions addressed in this volume, an introduction to the issues surrounding concepts of class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.