Moving On: Toward a Post-Cold War Historiography

For too long the historiography of American Communism, influenced by the politics of the Cold War, has focused much too intently on the CPUSA central apparatus, and as a result has debated its links with Moscow and its role in the Cold War.  It seems to me that this historiography has run its course, which in turn has meant that new discoveries no longer generate new insights or further understandings.

I suggest that we leave Draper behind and explore the legacy of the CPUSA in American political culture and social history by turning our focus away from the Party proper; rather we should look into and at its front organizations.  Communist fronts, auxilliaries, mass organizations, and unions were the source of the Party's profound and enduring influence on American politics and law.  Their membership and popular influence far exceeded those of the actual CP.

We need to rework the Communist world drawn by Draper all those years ago so as to deal with the CPUSA's impact and influence through front organizations and other groupings where CP members played a leading role.