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The 1970s looks at an iconic decade when the cultural left and economic right came to the fore in American society and the world at large. While many have seen the 1970s as simply a period of failures epitomized by Watergate, inflation, the oil crisis, global unrest, and disillusionment with military efforts in Vietnam, Thomas Borstelmann creates a new framework for understanding the period and its legacy. He demonstrates how the 1970s increased social inclusiveness and, at the same time, encouraged commitments to the free market and wariness of government. As a result, American culture and much of the rest of the world became more--and less--equal.
Borstelmann explores how the 1970s forged the contours of contemporary America. Military, political, and economic crises undercut citizens' confidence in government. Free market enthusiasm led to lower taxes, a volunteer army, individual 401(k) retirement plans, free agency in sports, deregulated airlines, and expansions in gambling and pornography. At the same time, the movement for civil rights grew, promoting changes for women, gays, immigrants, and the disabled. And developments were not limited to the United States. Many countries gave up colonial and racial hierarchies to develop a new formal commitment to human rights, while economic deregulation spread to other parts of the world, from Chile and the United Kingdom to China.
Placing a tempestuous political culture within a global perspective, The 1970s shows that the decade wrought irrevocable transformations upon American society and the broader world that continue to resonate today.
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Crosscurrents of Crisis in 1970s America 19
Trouble Abroad 22
Corruption at Home 36
Conservatism and the Distrust of Government 45
Economic Insecurity 53
Turning Inward 63
Chapter 2: The Rising Tide of Equality and Democratic Reform 73
Women in the Public Sphere 76
Women in the Private Sphere 88
The Many Frontiers of Equality 96
Political Reform 108
Resistance 114
Chapter 3: The Spread of Market Values 122
A Sea Change of Principles 126
The Economy Goes South 133
Globalization's Gathering Speed 137
From Citizenship to Deregulation 144
Market Solutions for Every Problem 153
A Freer Market, A Coarser Culture 162
Chapter 4: The Retreat of Empires and the Global Advance of the Market 175
The Emergence of Human Rights 179
European Empires and Southern Africa 186
The Soviet Empire 193
The American Empire 201
The Israeli Exception 208
The Retreat of the State 214
China and the Hollowing Out of Socialism 220
Chapter 5: Resistance to the New Hyper-Individualism 227
The Environmentalist Challenge 231
Religious Resurgence at Home 247
Religious Resurgence in Israel 258
Religious Resurgence in the Muslim World 263
Jimmy Carter as a Man of His Times 270
Chapter 6: More and Less Equal since the 1970s 279
Evidence to the Contrary 280
Inclusiveness Ascending 287
Markets Persisting 295
Unrestrained Consumption 299
Inequality Rising 306
Conclusion 312
Notes 319
Index 371
Overview
The 1970s looks at an iconic decade when the cultural left and economic right came to the fore in American society and the world at large. While many have seen the 1970s as simply a period of failures epitomized by Watergate, inflation, the oil crisis, global unrest, and disillusionment with military efforts in Vietnam, Thomas Borstelmann creates a new framework for understanding the period and its legacy. He demonstrates how the 1970s increased social inclusiveness and, at the same time, encouraged commitments ...