counterculturalists
Society's deliberate outsiders
Counterculturalists are people who reject or oppose mainstream social values and norms, typically embracing alternative lifestyles, beliefs, or practices.
The term emerged from the 1960s counterculture movement but applies to anyone actively resisting dominant cultural standards: The counterculturalists of the Beat Generation challenged postwar conformity.
Tech counterculturalists advocate for digital privacy and open-source software.
Favoring reform and innovation
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- liberationRelease from constraint
- civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
empowerment · equality · justice · transformation · consciousness · commune · collective · utopian
Public expression of disapproval
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- marchRhythmic group walk
- sit-inProtest by remaining seated
- boycottOrganized economic protest
grassroots · advocacy · civil disobedience · rally · direct action · organizer · coalition · solidarity
Testing new methods
- bohemianArtistic nonconformist type
- beatnikFifties counterculture member
- psychedelicInducing altered perception
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
unconventional · artistic · surrealist · expressionist · underground · fringe · transgressive · provocative
One who values autonomy
- free spiritUninhibited, unconventional person
- eccentricUnconventional in character
- outsiderOne excluded from group
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
maverick · misfit · dissenter · contrarian · dropout · rebel · freethinker · antiestablishment
Open resistance to authority
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
insurrection · radicalism · disobedience · mutiny · insubordination · unrest · agitation · subversion
progressive
Favoring reform and innovation
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- liberationRelease from constraint
- civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
emancipation · empowerment · equality · justice · transformation · consciousness · commune · collective · utopian · alternative lifestyle
protest
Public expression of disapproval
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- marchRhythmic group walk
- sit-inProtest by remaining seated
boycott · grassroots · advocacy · civil disobedience · rally · direct action · organizer · coalition · solidarity · petition
experimental
Testing new methods
- bohemianArtistic nonconformist type
- beatnikFifties counterculture member
- psychedelicInducing altered perception
visionary · unconventional · artistic · surrealist · expressionist · underground · fringe · transgressive · provocative · happenings
individualist
One who values autonomy
- free spiritUninhibited, unconventional person
- eccentricUnconventional in character
- outsiderOne excluded from group
iconoclast · maverick · misfit · dissenter · contrarian · dropout · rebel · freethinker · antiestablishment · square peg
defiance
Open resistance to authority
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
uprising · insurrection · radicalism · disobedience · mutiny · insubordination · unrest · agitation · subversion · revolutionary
counterculturaliststraditionalists
Upholders of established customs
conformists · conservatives · conventionalists · preservationists · reactionaries
counterculturalistsconformists
Those obeying social norms
squares · bourgeoisie · suburbanites · company men · ordinary citizens
counterculturalistsinstitutionalists
Advocates for formal structures
pillars of society · insiders · company men · loyalists · power brokers