A Counter-Culture Explanation of Student Activism

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Abstract
This paper develops the concept of a counter-culture—a semi-organized culture which examines and challenges many political and non-political features of the dominant culture. According to survey data gathered by both UCLA and Berkeley, “membership” in the counter-culture may partly explain student activism; and the differential growth of the counter-cultures at UCLA and Berkeley may partly explain the differential growth of activism at the two campuses. This paper briefly discusses the limitations of a counter-culture explanation of activism and the implications of such an explanation for methodology. It is suggested that interaction patterns of activists and non-activists should be examined and that other methodological techniques of social movement theory should be applied.

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