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Fifth Estate (periodical)

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Fifth Estate is a long-running independent radical anarchist periodical, one of the oldest continuously published anarchist publications in the United States. It centers anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist political analysis, social movement commentary, cultural criticism, and arts coverage aligned with radical left and anarchist values.

Key moments

  • 1965The periodical is founded in Detroit, Michigan by a local collective of radical activists.
  • late 20th centuryShifts to a fully explicit anarchist editorial orientation, expanding coverage of anti-war, environmental, anti-racist, and anti-globalization struggles.
  • Spring 2025Releases its 416th issue, continuing regular print and digital publication into the 21st century.

Historical Significance in U.S. Radical Publishing

Fifth Estate has outlasted nearly all other radical periodicals founded in the 1960s, maintaining consistent publication through decades of shifting social movements. Its longevity makes it a critical archival and contemporary resource for documenting grassroots anarchist and anti-authoritarian activism in the U.S., from the Vietnam War era to modern climate justice and mutual aid movements.

Independent Collective Structure

Unlike commercial or institutionally backed publications, Fifth Estate has operated as a volunteer-run collective for most of its history, maintaining full editorial independence from corporate or political funding. This structure allows it to prioritize radical critique over audience growth or advertising revenue, staying aligned with its anti-capitalist core values.

Namesake and Ideological Alignment

The publication draws its name from the concept of the 'fifth estate', which describes an extra-institutional social group that exercises independent political influence outside traditional power structures (the original four estates of the realm and the fourth estate of the mainstream press). This name directly reflects its mission to serve as an independent, dissenting voice for radical change outside mainstream media and politics.

Fifth Estate is a U.S. anarchist-Anti-capitalism [1] periodical, based in Detroit, Michigan, begun in 1965.[2]

History

Fifth Estate was started by Harvey Ovshinsky, a seventeen-year-old youth from Detroit.[3] He was inspired by a 1965 summer trip to California where he worked on the Los Angeles Free Press, the first underground paper in the United States; Harvey's father, inventor Stan Ovshinsky, knew the editor of the Free Press, Art Kunkin, from their years as comrades in the Socialist Party.[4] The first issue was published on November 19, 1965.[3]

The spirit of the paper during the first ten years of its existence was summed up in a Feb. 1, 1969, staff editorial:

"We believe that people who are serious in their criticism of this society and their desire to change it must involve themselves in serious revolutionary struggle. We do not believe that music is revolution. We do not believe that dope is revolution. We do not believe that poetry is revolution. We see these as part of a burgeoning revolutionary culture. They cannot replace political struggle as the main means by which the capitalist system will be destroyed. The Man will not allow his social and economic order to be taken from him by Marshall amps and clashing cymbals. Ask the Cubans, the Vietnamese or urban American blacks what lengths the system is willing to go to, to preserve itself.[5]"

By 1972 the optimism of the sixties had worn off and the tone of the paper became more concerned with struggle than fun. Ovshinsky had left in 1969,[6] leaving a group of young people (teenagers or people in their early twenties) to run the paper. Peter Werbe, a 29-year-old Michigan State University dropout who had been with the paper since March 1966, took over as editor.[7] The staff sent delegations to Vietnam, Cambodia and Cuba. The massive defeat of George McGovern and the election of Richard Nixon for a second term with an increased vote damaged the movement — many underground papers ceased publication and alternative news agencies such as the Liberation News Service, and the Underground Press Syndicate were beginning to collapse. The Fifth Estate was mentioned in the national press when one of its reporters, Pat Halley, threw a shaving cream pie at Guru Maharaj Ji in 1973. Though the guru forgave him publicly, two of his followers attacked Halley a week later and fractured his skull.[8]

In 2002, the center of the magazine shifted from Detroit, Michigan to Liberty, Tennessee when long-time contributor Andrew Smith (who wrote under the name Andy Sunfrog) took over the main editorial duties of the magazine, although long-time Detroit staffers like Peter Werbe remained involved.[9]

See also

  • List of underground newspapers of the 1960s counterculture

Further reading

External links

References

  1. https://www.fifthestate.org/about/^
  2. Fifth Estate Records, 1967-2016, (Majority of material found within 1982-1999) University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center - University of Michigan Finding Aids, retrieved 11 June 2023^
  3. Friess, Steve. "The Founder and Editor of ‘The Fifth Estate’ on the Paper’s Original Purpose: Peter Werbe and Harvey Ovshinsky, who both recently released their first books, spar amiably," Hour Detroit (May 3, 2021).^
  4. ''Proceedings. 1960 National Convention, Socialist Party - Social Democratic Federation.''^
  5. Ken Wachsberger. Insider Histories of the Vietnam Era Underground Press, Part 2 MSU Press, 2012^
  6. Glessing, Robert J.The Underground Press in America (Indiana Univ. Press, 1970), p. 23.^
  7. Burks, John. "The underground press in America: A special report," Rolling Stone (Oct. 4, 1969), p. 11-33.^
  8. Current Biography Yearbook. H.W. Wilson Company, 1974^
  9. Bill McGraw. Underground paper leaves city, not roots Detroit Free Press, September 5, 2002^