Madigan Andrea Fichter

This dissertation examines Romanian and Yugoslav youth counterculture and dissident politics from 1965-1975. It argues that Balkan youth participated in global counterculture, and worked to reform their own regimes. Rebellious youth created a hybrid counterculture, applying the Western New Left’s anti-authoritarianism, hippie aesthetic, and protest culture to local nationalist, religious, and leftist identities. It also examines the artistic, lifestyle, and consumer aspect of counterculture. It argues that nonconformists and artists often made political or social statements through western-influenced art forms, such as avant-garde film. However, young people also used countercultural products, such as drugs or rock music, as a means of ignoring the demands of the Communist Parties.