Mitteilungsblatt des Instituts für soziale Bewegungen Heft 32
Natalie Atkin: From Margin to Mainstream
American Peace Movements Since 1945
This article explores recent histories of the post –World War Two American peace movement.
Divided into three sections, it considers the movement immediately following World
War Two to the early 1960s, the Vietnam-era movement, and the movement from the end of
Vietnam to 1980. The first period includes literature on various peace groups such as the
War Resisters League and campaigns against nuclear testing. The scholarship on the Vietnam
period is the largest. Topics include women in the antiwar movement, protest in different
parts of the United States, the role of the media, and draft resistance among a host of other
areas. The post-Vietnam era is the shortest; it focuses on the peace movement’s redirection to
nuclear disarmament. This article maintains that the American peace movement underwent
a transformation, moving from the political margins to the social and political mainstream,
increasing its visibility and influence.