Antiestablishmentarianism

Antiestablishmentarianism

Antiestablishmentarianism (or anti-establishmentarianism) is a policy or attitude that views a nation's power structure as corrupt, repressive, or exploitive.

Antiestablishmentarians adhere to the doctrine of opposition to the social and political establishment. Their purpose is to subvert from within. This doctrine holds that establishments lose connection with the people and have their own agendas which frequently destroy the things they blindly don't address.

Antiestablishmentarianism has ties to anarchism but should not be confused with antifederalism or antifeudalism.

In a country with an established religion (e.g. England), "antiestablishmentarianism" means support for the end of the special status of the established religion. In the 1800s, some English people opposed a movement to "disestablish" as the church exclusively recognized by the government as the official religion of the country. That countermovement was antidisestablishmentarianism. Antidisestablishmentarianism is usually cited as the longest word in the English language, but according to some definitions it is exceeded by several others.

Modern day use

Someone born in the 60's or before should be able to identify with the Nixon era and the war the country was involved in--they should be able to give a firsthand account of the antiestablishment mindset.

This mindset was born from the anxiety and frustration/anger with the government during the Vietnam war. It was during this period that the younger citizenry were concerned about being drafted and sent away to war--a war that was not very popular. Many people were asking "Why are we there?" Others who believed we had made a grave error in entering Vietnam were protesting in different forms.

"Make peace not war" was a common cry. "Peaceniks" as some were named dressed with flowers in their hair, [ [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/peacenik Peacenik at thefreedictionary.com] ] and in some cases formed communities called communes. [ [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/communes Communes at thefreedictionary.com] ] Peaceniks experimented with drugs to meditate. In essence, during this time period, the norm and the standard (establishment) were categorized as archaic thinking. Fueled by music from artists with a common dislike of the war and the sheer numbers giving reinforcement of this antiestablishment mindset a term came about, Antidisestablishmentarianism was the opposite. This was a backlash against the antiestablishment mindset and actions.

Common Use Definition: This is the practice of being anti or against those who are most everything that was established as the norm (marriage, government and laws, and most obviously war).

References/sources:

Used Free dictionary.com for Peacenik

Webcontent #1 used to ensure other sources available to record more detail in future substancive prooofs of the use in this context. [If hippies were 'anti-establishment', what did they mean by 'establishment'?Comparing mindsets and the mystery of short-lived idealism, Authored by A.O. Kime] example music as influence [http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070315150402AAwQfdp] Example of use #2 [http://www.ciadvertising.org/student_account/spring_01/adv382j/ifsg336/the_60's.htm]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • antiestablishmentarianism — /an tee i stab lish meuhn tair ee euh niz euhm, an tuy /, n. a policy or attitude that views a nation s power structure as corrupt, repressive, exploitive, etc. [ANTIESTABLISHMENTARIAN + ISM] * * * …   Universalium

  • antiestablishmentarianism — an·ti·establishmentarianism …   English syllables

  • antiestablishmentarianism — noun the doctrine of opposition to the social and political establishment • Syn: ↑antiestablishmentism • Hypernyms: ↑doctrine, ↑philosophy, ↑philosophical system, ↑school of thought, ↑ism * * * no …   Useful english dictionary

  • antiestablishmentarian — /an tee i stab lish meuhn tair ee euhn, an tuy /, n. 1. a person who supports or advocates antiestablishmentarianism. adj. 2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of antiestablishmentarianism. [ANTI + ESTABLISHMENTARIAN] * * * …   Universalium

  • Disestablishmentarianism — today relates to the Church of England in the United Kingdom and related views on its establishment as an established church. It was primarily a movement in the United Kingdom in the 19th century, when all four Home nations had established… …   Wikipedia

  • List of belief systems — Below are words that designate a set or subset of beliefs. This includes dispositional beliefs.Many, but not all, of these words end with the suffix –ism . Words like magnetism , prism , and schism , are not included, because they do not… …   Wikipedia

  • satanism —    Devotion to SATAN, the DEVIL, or forces of darkness. Satanism is not structured as a single, unified organization or movement. Some forms of it are religious and involve worship of Satan, while other forms involve high magic or are… …   Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology

  • antiestablishmentism — noun the doctrine of opposition to the social and political establishment • Syn: ↑antiestablishmentarianism • Hypernyms: ↑doctrine, ↑philosophy, ↑philosophical system, ↑school of thought, ↑ism …   Useful english dictionary

  • philosophical system — noun a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school • Syn: ↑doctrine, ↑philosophy, ↑school of thought, ↑ism • Derivationally related forms: ↑philosophical (for: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • school of thought — noun a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school • Syn: ↑doctrine, ↑philosophy, ↑philosophical system, ↑ism • Derivationally related forms: ↑philosophical (for: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

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