long march through the institutions

noun

The strategy of reforming society by becoming part of the institutions that control it.

OriginGerman der lange Marsch durch die Institutionen →
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Meanings

noun
  1. governmentThe strategy of reforming society by becoming part of the institutions that control it.

    But my concern—not a deeply held conviction, but a fear I can’t stop returning to—is that the left’s long march through the institutions has run into a dead end.

    Fall 2021, Michael Kazin and Timothy Shenk, “Was the Long March a Dead End? An Exchange on Radicals and the University”, in Dissent

Origin

  1. Germander lange Marsch durch die Institutionen
  2. Englishlong march through the institutions

Calque of German der lange Marsch durch die Institutionen, coined by German activist Rudi Dutschke in 1967.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

long march through the institutions. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20march%20through%20the%20institutions

MLA

“long march through the institutions.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20march%20through%20the%20institutions. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “long march through the institutions,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20march%20through%20the%20institutions.

Source: long march through the institutions on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.