ABSTRACT
This chapter contextualizes the dissenting practices used in the underground press during the Sixties. During this period, dissent functioned in counter-distinction to the mainstream press, which, C. Wright Mills argued, failed to interrogate social institutions critically and, therefore, was unable to promote necessary reform. Instead, the mainstream press, though an essential social institution, supported the “effective dominant” culture. The underground press countered this structure of dominance, attempting to imagine and implement alternative cultural forms through the use of dissent. This chapter characterizes the underground press’ dissenting practices, tracing the critical response through the underground press anthologies that appeared directly after the decade to today.
