Arthur Marwick

The Sixties Arthur Marwick

Mention of the 60s arouses strong emotions, even in those who were already old when the 60s began and those who were not yet born when the 60s ended. For some, it is a golden age of political progress; others see it as an era in which depravity was celebrated, and the secure moral and social framework subverted. The 1960s was unquestionably a decade of exceptional historical significance, witnessing transformation in personal relationships, in attitudes towards authority, in modes of self-presentation, in material standards, customs, and behaviour. This volume presents a study of social and political change in Europe and the United States during this period of cultural revolution. Paying particular attention to the impact of the 60s on the lives of ordinary people, Marwick exposes as myths and caricatures many of the accepted views of the decade. He analyzes phenomena as diverse as sexual permissiveness, innovations in high art, the civil rights movement, feminism, improvements in material conditions, the rise of youth culture, and trends towards individualism and self-expression, arguing that the 60s was no short-term era of ecstasy and excess, fit only for nostalgia or contempt.
On the contrary, the 60s set the cultural and social agenda for the rest of the century.