This series contains the files of the Dissent editorial board. Correspondence and board meeting minutes make up the majority of this series. This series also contains several documents related to the formation of Dissent between 1952-1953 as well as materials related to the magazine's non-profit organization the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, which was formed in 1980. Other materials contained in this series include materials related to conferences and special issues.

This series consists of Dissent's administrative files which contain correspondence, subject files, promotional and fundraising materials, materials related to the creation of magazine's website, and documents and correspondence related to the Dissent archive. Subject files and correspondence are arranged alphabetically, while other files are grouped by subject. Files relating to the Dissent archive contain correspondence related to the formation of the archive and efforts to compile correspondence from founding member and longtime editor Irving Howe. Several a number of these materials contain photocopies of Howe's correspondence with Dissent contributors.

This series contains materials and writings from Emanuel Geltman, who was a member of Dissent's editorial board for many years. Materials include booklets, magazines, bulletins, FOIA requests, correspondence, minutes and clippings. The majority of Geltman's materials relate to his political involvement in socialism in the 1930s and 1940s, prior to the formation of Dissent, while a small number of materials relate to the 1970s and 80s.

This series contains copies of Democracy Journal from 1981 to 1983, as well as a number of assorted pamphlets from the late 1970s to 1990s.

This series contains several scrapbooks documenting Dissent magazine's development from 1954-1989 and other assorted memorabilia related to special events such as parties and anniversaries.

This series contains assorted photographs of Irving Howe and Michael Walzer. It also contains several photographs from a panel discussion on media bias from 2002.

Contains recordings of special events, conferences and interviews 1990s-2000

Founded in 1954 by Irving Howe, Dissent Magazine is a quarterly leftist/social democratic intellectual magazine of politics and culture edited by Michael Kazin and Michael Walzer. Informed by democratic socialist ideology and intellectuals on the political left, Dissent's founders positioned the magazine in contrast to the liberalism of the West and communism of the East. Although Dissent identifies itself with the democratic socialism of its founders, its editors and contributors represent a broad spectrum of political outlooks. Since its formation, it has published articles by a number of prominent intellectuals including Hannah Arendt, Norman Mailer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Ellen Willis, Richard Wright, George Packer, as well as many others.

Dissent's archived website contains direct links to articles from current issues and back issues, a blog, online articles, podcasts, videos, events, and topical issues. The website captures from the Communism, Socialism, Trotskyism Web Archive are more comprehensive than that of the Other Left Activism Web Archive. Back issues are only accessible through the Communism, Socialism, Trotskyism Web Archive. The Belabored Podcast which was created in 2013 is accessible through the Communism, Socialism, Trotskyism Web Archive, but can be only be played back from captures from 2017 onwards. The podcast episodes are not downloadable. The search function is not available through either web archive. The website was first captured in 2007.