Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States

Focusing on a variety of movements for political, social, and economic change in the US, Jules Boykoff shows the tools used by government agents to undermine the long-term viability of opposition in this country. Despite the pretense of democratic ideals, the US government has ruthlessly suppressed dissent, using hard-to-detect and rarely acknowledged tactics. Boykoff breaks it down for readers, using a methodical, step-by-step analysis to open the government's bag of tricks for all to see. Beyond Bullets offers indispensable lessons to on-the-ground activists - those most likely to suffer the effects of infiltration, "snitchjacketing," surveillance, "black propaganda," and other insidious practices”as well as to those studying the forms of authoritarian rule in democratic societies. "When there is every reason to believe there's a 'bad moon rising on the right,' leftists need to understand how the state suppresses the rising tide of popular resentment. The strategy is multifaceted and sophisticated, as Jules Boykoff explains in this timely analysis of how the government has marginalized, channeled, infiltrated, co-opted, and repressed progressive movements in the US over the past hundred years. Paranoia and freak-out only play into their hands. Read Boykoff to understand where the real danger lies and how best to defend against it." Robin Hahnel Jules Boykoff teaches political science at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. His research and writing appears in scholarly journals such as New Political Science, Global Environmental Change, and Journal of Politics, and popular publications like CommonDreams.org, Extra!, and NACLA: Report on the Americas. He is also a poet and former professional soccer player.