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Subversion - the "paradigm shift"

01 September 1992

The targeting of legitimate political movements who are portrayed as "the enemies of democracy" and who affected by the "paradigm shift" is the subject of an excellent article by Chip Berlet in Covert Action. The term "paradigm shift" means a major negative change in the way the public perceives a political movement which is ultimately victimised, and then often subject to surveillance, break-ins and harassment.

For many years the perceived threat to the American "way of life" was seen as communism, then leftist revolutionism and now domestic terrorism. It is based on the "subversion myth" where dissent is transformed from a movement for reform into a threat to national security justifying extreme counter-measures. The targeting of a particular group can often be traced to right-wing groups whose views are then transmitted uncritically in the media and used to legitimise surveillance.

Examples of targets in the US are the National Lawyers Guild, which fought for civil liberties in the McCarthy and Cold War eras; the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) which saw hundreds of offices, churches, homes and cars broken into; the environmental groups "Earth First" and "Greenpeace"; and gay groups.

Covert Action, Summer 1992.