Social History of England in the 1960s

Counterculture of the 1960s

by Emily McEachern

Counterculture of the 1960s

Abstract

This project aims to closely examine the changing social history of both England and America during the 1960s, and also to compare the two countries during this decade. I will attempt to make comparisons between art, music, politics, and technology from the background research I complete. The 1960s is a time that has always interested me because many social movements, like feminism and the civil rights movement, became so prominent in America and I am interested to see how that compares to England. At WPI I have completed 2 history courses and 1 Philosophy course, HI 1332, HI 2332, and PY 1731.

Introduction

I suggest you save this section for last. Describe the essence of this project. Cover what the project is and who cares in the first two sentences. Then cover what others have done like it, how your project is different. Discuss the extent to which your strategy for completing this project was new to you, or an extension of previous HUA experiences.

As you continue to think about your project milestones, reread the "Goals" narrative on defining project milestones from the HU2900 syllabus. Remember: the idea is to have equip your milestone with a really solid background and then some sort of "thing that you do". You'll need to add in some narrative to describe why you did the "thing that you did", which you'd probably want to do anyway. You can make it easy for your advisors to give you a high grade by ensuring that your project milestone work reflects careful, considerate, and comprehensive thought and effort in terms of your background review, and insightful, cumulative, and methodical approaches toward the creative components of your project milestone deliverables.

Section 1: Background

What is counterculture?

The 1960s cannot be talked about without mentioning the concept of counterculture. A counterculture, "rejects or challenges mainstream culture or particular elements of it" . A counterculture action aims to show opposition, disagreement, and/or rebellion towards current culture in place. Some ways counter culture is often displayed is through protesting against a particular issue, rebelling against an established way of doing things, trying to overcome oppression, and even creating a new culture when the current one in place is dissatisfying. Methods used during the 1960s, and even all throughout the 20th century to express countercultural points of view were meant to promote action and provoke change among people. Often the unacceptability of counterculture is eventually taken as a normality by the general population and considered mainstream culture. Throughout the background of this project counter culture will be referenced and referred to many times, because the 1960s was a period of protest and rebellion against societal norms.

Conclusion

In this section, provide a summary or recap of your work, as well as potential areas of further inquiry (for yourself, future students, or other researchers).

References

1. Porter, R. (1998). London: a social history. Harvard University Press.
2. Counter Culture. (2006, September 22). Retrieved June 06, 2017, from http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/counterculture/counterintro.html

Image Gallery

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