Nonconformism became a heroic value in the Western tradition that Socrates helped to found, especially in societies such as America's that value individualism.But nonconformism is not an absolute virtue and easily veers off into sedition, subversion or other actions deemed unpatriotic.
Its roots in nonconformism seem remote now but the huge expansion of foreign aid by the government was driven in part by missionary spirit (Douglas Alexander, the development secretary, is, like the prime minister, the son of a Church of Scotland minister).
Yet, to many, his nuanced nonconformism with the post-Tiananmen order was an inspiration.
Part of his glory derives from his incorruptibility, his brave nonconformism, his determination to think as an individual not as part of "the herd".
The nonconformism of surfers did not endear them to the public, and social commentators branded these youths as itinerants, nomads, and wanderers and characterized surfing as an indolent, wasteful, selfish, and institutionally unanchored pastime.
In 1632 legal action was taken against him for his Nonconformism, and in July 1633 he emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he became "teacher" of the First Church of Boston, remaining so until his death.
Easy Rider, American countercultural film, released in 1969, that was hailed as a youth anthem for its message of nonconformism and its reflection of social tensions in the United States in the late 1960s.
His views of nonconformism in contemporary society are expressed in The Winding Passage (1980).
Reflecting on the rise of England, Holland, and other areas where religious Nonconformism was strong, Weber drew attention to the cultural consequences of the Reformation.
Their nonconformism has consigned them to the fringes.
This tension, between Light the historian – informed, deft and purposeful – and Light the anxiously ruminative family memorialist, is even more marked when, on the trail of another branch of ancestors, she hits on an area that clearly interests her deeply – West Country nonconformism, and the rural poverty and radical politics behind it.
