Counterculture Movement
Definition
The counterculture movement was a social and cultural phenomenon in the 1960s that challenged traditional norms, values, and systems, advocating for peace, love, personal freedom, and equality.
Analogy
Think of the counterculture movement like a rebellious teenager in the family of societal norms. This 'teenager' doesn't want to follow the rules set by its 'parents' (traditional society), instead it wants to create its own path based on what it believes is right.
Related terms
Hippies: Hippies were members of a youth movement beginning in the United States during the mid-1960s which spread around Western countries. They advocated for peace, love and freedom; rejected mainstream societal values; experimented with music & drugs; had unique styles of dress & grooming.
Flower Children: Flower children were a specific sect of the hippie movement, known for their passive resistance to war and their embrace of love, peace, and simple, idealistic values often expressed through art and music.
Beat Generation: A literary movement in the 1950s that laid much of the groundwork for the later counterculture movement. Its members expressed feelings of alienation from conventional society.
"Counterculture Movement" appears in:
Study guides (1)
Practice Questions (6)
- Which of the following did the counterculture movement reject?
- What did the counterculture movement seek to create?
- Which of the following was NOT a factor that fueled the counterculture movement?
- Which of the following is an example of a prominent figure in the counterculture movement?
- What is a key similarity between the Great Awakening of the mid-18th century and the Counterculture Movement of the 1960s?
- What impact did the counterculture movement of the late-1960s have on subsequent generations?
Resources
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