Back to the future: 1979-1989
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Society

The ascent of the individual, the emergence of community power, and a diversifying society, all brought immense social change.

Essays

'Sign o' the times'

The 1980s saw both British and global society torn between the forces of liberal values on one hand, and the forces of social conservatism on the other. It was a decade of change, reaction, and contrast. The 'good times' of the club and party scene were in stark contrast to the experiences of poverty in inner cities, and the riots of 1981 seem a world away from the street parties of the same year for the wedding of Charles and Diana. Unemployment, homelessness, and drug epidemics were for many people the social change that they most witnessed.

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