Underground culture

Underground culture, or just underground, is a term to describe various alternative cultures which either consider themselves different to the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by someone. The word underground is used because there is a history of resistance movements under harsh regimes where the term underground was employed to refer to the necessary secrecy of the resisters. For instance, the Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes by which African slaves in the 19th century United States attempted to escape to freedom. Also "The underground" was a common name for World War II resistance movements, by extension, the term was subsequently applied to counter-cultural movement(s) many of which sprang up during the 1960s. The phrase "underground railroad" also turned up again in the 1970s being used in reference to the clandestine movement of people and goods by the American Indian Movement in and out of occupied Native American reservation lands. (See Wounded Knee (References: http://www.aimovement.org/peltier/).

Etymology

The use of underground as adjective meaning "subculture" is attested is from 1953, from World War II application to resistance movements against German occupation, on analogy of the dominant culture and Nazis http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=underground and, at least, as far back as the Underground railroad.

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