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Sat 31 Dec, 2011 01:50 am
At twenty-four, he was placed in charge of the newly created Radical Division of the Justice Department, and he ran the biggest counterterrorism operations in the history of the United States, rounding up thousands of radical suspects across the country.
in this sentence, what exactly does "radical division" mean?
@lizfeehily,
Quote:The term political radicalism (or simply, in political science, radicalism) denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways.
The Radical Division would be the government department charged with countering revolutionary (in this case "anti-democratic") movements especially those who would use or advocate violence to further their ends.
People who question the established order, government, etc, are often called "radicals" especially by members of the established order. Thus the Radical Division of the Justice Department was set up to spy on "radicals", not all of whom planned violent disorder or overthrow of the government.
The OP omitted to mention that the person being referred to is J Edgar Hoover, and the time was 1919. The notorious Palmer Raids of that time showed that attacks on freedom of speech and "sedition" are not just a feature of modern US political life.
The OP should note that the body in question was called the Radical Division with a capital R and and a capital D, these indicating a proper noun.
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