From 'Soul on ice' to 'Soul for hire'? the political transformation of black panther eldridge cleaver

The phenomenon of radicals and leftwing political activists recanting earlier allegiances to shift in a rightwards direction has often been commented upon, with explanations that veer from identifying a convergence between extreme-left and extreme-right positions; to wider social and economic changes; to psychological factors intrinsic to each particular individual. One of the most startling examples of such a change in political orientation - and made not once, but on numerous occasions - is that of Eldridge Cleaver, the former Black Panther party leader. What lay behind the startling transitions in Cleaver's story is here discussed with reference to a psychohistorical framework that can help explain the broader phenomenon of Left-Right political conversion.