ABSTRACT
In searching for the source of the New Left’s (NL) loss of identity, it is important to recognize its relative incoherence and amorphous quality from the outset. Social mobility creates inconsistent statuses and the fragmentation and the status anxiety and social isolation caused by it has been distinguished as a major source of motivation and recruitment for young radicals entering the NL. The roots of the NL's identity crisis can be sought in the development of the Movement as it has been described prior to 1968. In reinforcing these changes, two particular 'villains' have typically been selected for attention because they stand out in the degree of their influence in the crisis year of 1967: Herbert Marcuse and Stokeley Carmichael. The crisis of the project of the alternative society emphasized the ill-effects of the Marcusian apocalypse and the limitations of Black Power as it was interpreted by Carmichael and the Panthers.
