ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the distinguishing features of the some variants in the light of C. Wright Mills' typology of political theory. Since cultural and revolutionary nationalism were the dominant variants of 1960s African American nationalism, one must be conversant with these variants in order to understand nationalist literary works of the period. An inclusive application of Eric Hoffer's theory to cultural and revolutionary nationalism, however, requires a change in terminology. Part of the impetus for the emergence of revolutionary nationalism as movement was the growing militancy among Civil Rights activists following vicious attacks by white crowds in towns such as Albany, Georgia; Selma, Alabama; and Cicero, Illinois. The main agency of revolutionary nationalism was guerrilla warfare. In S. E. Anderson's analysis two primary ideals of cultural nationalism—Afro-centricism and black creativity—are equated with the variant's primary agencies in such a way that the ideals lose their evaluative authority.
