Ecstasy and holiness: Counter culture and the open society

by Frank Musgrove

Deals with the counter culture which emerged in the wealthy societies of the late 1960s and early 1970s, often disguised by the rejection of conventional careers and the acceptance of voluntary poverty in the context of plenty. The period witnessed radical change in young people's attitudes.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, first published in 1974, argues that the counter culture is not the outcome of alienation, but of opportunity, being the result of a new generational consciousness, an openness which has characterised industrial societies of the West since the 1950s. Its roots lie in economic expansion and population movement and growth, the same factors that are cited in the decline of religiousness.

It is interesting to note that the corollary is also true, for as economic expansion ends, and population movement and growth turns into migration, a rise in extreme right wing views will take place.