A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When individual dissidents unite in a common cause they may become known as a dissident movement. Early examples are the prophet Amos and Jeremiah who held the rich and powerful cognitive elite to account. Modern dissidents such as Noam Chomsky hold positions in the education sector and frequently give lectures to express their critical views on government policy and the ruling class.
See also: Soviet dissidents. The term dissident was used in the Soviet Union during the period of 1965-1985, including Brezhnev stagnation, for citizens who overtly (or sometimes even subtly) criticized the practices or the authority of the Communist party. The people who used to write, tear and who distributed non-censored non-conformist literature samizdatwere criticized in the newspapers. It was common to criticize an author in newspapers without publishing any of his works. Then, many people accepted the term dissident with respect to themselves.[1] This radically changed the meaning of the term: instead of meaning a criminal, who opposes society, the term came to mean a non-conformist, who insists on the enforcement of officially published laws, including the international agreements, signed by the Soviet government.[2] [3] [4] An important part of the activity of dissidents was informing society(Both inside the Soviet Union and in foreign countries) about violation of laws and human rights:see Chronicle of Current Events (samizdat) and Moscow Helsinki Group.
The term "dissident" has been used to described authors and activists who criticize the United States government. Examples include Noam Chomsky[5] and Howard Zinn[6] .