McGirr Discussion Questions

Historiography:

In light of our readings on postwar liberalism does McGirr sufficiently show how the people of Orange County, CA were members of a social movement? And comparing this reading to the others we have read on liberalism how do conservatives compare to liberals as activists? How were their goals different or the same? Also their tactics? Their motivations? And does McGirr's book change the way we approach, or think about, social movements?

History:

If we could place the citizens of Orange County in other readings on the postwar period what role would they play? In Self, Cohen and Sugrue for example. How do we evaluate McGirr's use of terminology? She stated in the introduction how she labeled the conservatives in the narrative, does she adequately draw lines of distinction between the ideology of the Right? Are there problems with who she labeled as Right, Far Right, etc? How does this terminology influence McGirr's analysis? Can we characterize the people that eventually made up the Right as merely reactionaries to the changes in America, or was their "activism" based more on ideology?