Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM): a case study of an urban revolutionary movement in western capitalist society

• Main Author: Stanford, Maxwell C.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 1986
• Subjects: Political Science
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/2051; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3612&context=dissertations

The primary intent of this thesis is to present a political descriptive analysis of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), and urban revolutionary movement active in the 1960's. An attempt has been made to portray the historical context, the organization, ideology of the RAM organization and response of the state to the activities of the organization. The thesis presents a methodological approach to developing a paradigm in which the study of urban revolutionary movements is part of a rational analysis. The thesis also explains concepts and theories that are presented later in the text. A review of black radical activity from 1900 to 1960 is given to provide the reader with historical background information of the events and personalities which contributed to the development of RAM. A comparative analysis is made between urban revolutionary movements in Latin America and the United States in order to show that the RAM organization was part of a worldwide urban phenomenon. The scope of the thesis is to present an analysis of the birth, early beginnings of RAM as a national organization, and Malcolm X's impact on the organization. The thesis also covers RAM's organizational activities in two phases, including the dissolution of the organization. The basic tenets of RAM's ideology are examined in the thesis along with an analysis of repression waged against the organization by governmental intelligence agencies. The thesis concludes with a critical analysis of RAM as an organizational model in the black freedom struggle.