Borstelmann Thomas. The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013. — 416 p. ISBN10: 069115791X; ISBN13: 978-0691157917The 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.Preface and AcknowledgmentsCrosscurrents of Crisis in 1970s AmericaTrouble Abroad
Corruption at Home
Conservatism and the Distrust of Government
Economic Insecurity
Turning InwardThe Rising Tide of Equality and Democratic ReformWomen in the Public Sphere
Women in the Private Sphere
The Many Frontiers of Equality
Political Reform
ResistanceThe Spread of Market ValuesA Sea Change of Principles
The Economy Goes South
Globalization’s Gathering Speed
From Citizenship to Deregulation
Market Solutions for Every Problem
A Freer Market, A Coarser CultureThe Retreat of Empires and the Global Advance of the MarketThe Emergence of Human Rights
European Empires and Southern Africa
The Soviet Empire
The American Empire
The Israeli Exception
The Retreat of the State
China and the Hollowing Out of SocialismResistance to the New Hyper-IndividualismThe Environmentalist Challenge
Religious Resurgence at Home
Religious Resurgence in Israel
Religious Resurgence in the Muslim World
Jimmy Carter as a Man of His TimesMore and Less Equal since the 1970sEvidence to the Contrary
Inclusiveness Ascending
Markets Persisting
Unrestrained Consumption
Inequality Rising