198 ILWCH, 53, Spring 1998 de Grazia in "Scholarly Controversy: Time vs. Money," International Labor and Working-Class History 43 [1993]:2-47.) The Lost World of Italian-American Radicalism: Labor, Politics, and Culture Paul C. Mishler University of Massachusetts, Amherst William Mello New School for Social Research The history of Italian-American radicals in the United States is contradic- tory, even improbable. Other ethnic groups—Germans, Jews, and Finns, for example—gave widespread support to radicals and their organizations. Italian-American communities, characterized by conservatism, deference, and a strong focus on family as the primary social unit, seem a less hospita- ble location for radical activity. Yet, Italian-Americans from Sacco and Vanzetti to Vito Marcantonio are notable in the annals of American radi- calism. These radicals, their relationships with their communities, and their role in American politics and culture have been poorly understood. "The Lost World of Italian-American Radicalism," held on May 14 and 15, 1997, in New York City, was a welcome effort to change this amnesia. The conference was organized by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) and the CUNY Graduate School. Over 350 historians, sociolo- gists, and other scholars of Italian-American politics, culture, and the arts from the United States, Canada, and Italy participated. They explored the importance of Italian-American radicals in labor and politics and their influence on working-class culture, film, and literature. Rudolph Vecoli (University of Minnesota) confronted some of the paradoxes of Italian-American politics in his keynote address. Although Italian immigrants played a decisive role in the early trade union move- ment, their notions of working-class solidarity were "eroded and frag- mented by the action of internal and external forces" that turned them toward a more conservative politics. In particular, the Italian-American Left confronted substantial sympathy among Italian Americans for Mus- solini and fascism during the 1920s and 1930s. This, and not just a tradition- al, family-oriented culture, thwarted radical efforts to sink deeper roots https://doi.org/10.1017/S0147547900013788 Published online by Cambridge University Press