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

by Thomas Borstelmann

Overview

A compelling framework for understanding the importance of the 1970s for America and the world

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400839704
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/31/2011
Series:	America in the World , #12
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Thomas ("Tim") Borstelmann is the Elwood N. and Katherine Thompson Distinguished Professor of Modern World History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Table of Contents

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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The United States and the world have become more integrated and diverse during the last several decades, and this book helps us understand how that transformation came about. Borstelmann locates the origins of the contemporary world in the 1970s and presents by far the most comprehensive and persuasive portrait of that decade. Ranging from politics and ideology to economic globalization and religious fundamentalism, this book makes compelling reading."—Akira Iriye, Harvard University

"With brilliant insight and elegant, lively prose, Thomas Borstelmann makes sense of the seemingly incomprehensible contradictions and complexities of the 1970s. Demonstrating how the United States became both more and less equal, and linking this development to international trends, Borstelmann offers a magisterial global study of a decade that profoundly transformed America and the world. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand our past and present."—Elaine Tyler May, author of America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation

"This fascinating and important book shows how the United States simultaneously embraced both egalitarian norms and market principles in the 1970s—resulting in the paradoxical emergence of greater diversity and inclusivity right in tandem with soaring economic inequality. Profoundly thoughtful and beautifully written, The 1970s makes the compelling case that this pivotal decade gave birth to our contemporary political and social life."—Suzanne Mettler, Cornell University

"The importance of the 1970s in explaining contemporary America and large parts of the world cannot be overstated. Borstelmann makes a clear and compelling point about how the decade's developments shaped or played out over the remainder of the century and beyond. The breadth of the book's material is extremely impressive and utterly up-to-date."—Thomas Bender, author of A Nation Among Nations

"Offering a wide-ranging, general history of the United States in the 1970s, this book brings together a wealth of information, a lively and accessible style, and a persuasive thematic frame. There is no better introduction to this crucial and turbulent decade."—Daniel T. Rodgers, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

Keeping contemporary history timely and accessible, Borstelmann (The Cold War and the Color Line)shows the significance of 1970s American politics, culture, and religion on the following decades. As a world-renowned historian at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he accurately explorespolitical and social crises, genderand racial equality protests, alterations in global market trends, and regional turbulence throughout the Soviet Union, Africa, and the Far East. The flower children, Borstelmann notes, were disillusioned by the endless Vietnam War, Nixon’sarrogant Republican Partyfirmly in command in Washington. The author’s sterling commentary on the rise of the feminist movement, the decline of the Soviet empire, and the new Christian right’s courtship of Capitol Hill sets this book apart from other surveys of the “Me Decade.” Nuggets of genuine insight without any social agenda are found frequently within these pages. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"[T]his is an ambitious and important work that skillfully analyzes all aspects of the seventies and defines its legacy for present times."—-Karl Helicher, ForeWord Reviews

From the Publisher

"What sets this book apart . . . is the author's global approach, making clear that by the 1970s, while other countries may not have seen the US as the preeminent world leader it had been, it was very much a part of a world in which, thanks largely to technological advantages, boundaries of time and space and even culture were collapsing. Borstelmann also concisely brings readers to the present, concluding that while Americans have become less racist and sexist and more tolerant of diversity and difference, they have as a nation allowed economic inequality to reach near-epic proportions—in other words, the 1 percent versus the 99 percent."

Choice

Thomas Borstelmann provides us with a significant addition to a growing body of literature on the decade. More than an exhaustive survey of American politics, culture, and society in the seventies (a considerable achievement in itself), the study focuses on what Borstelmann brilliantly identifies as the central crux of the decade. . . . Borstelmann has written a thought-provoking, lucid, and at-times brilliant account of American culture, society, and politics in the seventies. . . . [I]f readers approach this book as the capacious and beautifully written history of the United States that it is, they will be richly rewarded.

Diplomatic History - Natasha Zaretsky

[I]ntelligent and well crafted.

Pacific Historical Review - William L. O'neill

Used as a text to enter the field of 1970s U.S. history the book excels and should receive wide readership. The study is accessible, very well written and incorporates much recent 1970s literature. . . . The 1970s is an important addition to the growing body of literature focused on the decade.

49th Parallel - Nick Blackboum

[T]his is an ambitious and important work that skillfully analyzes all aspects of the seventies and defines its legacy for present times.

ForeWord Reviews - Karl Helicher

Used as a text to enter the field of 1970s U.S. history the book excels and should receive wide readership. The study is accessible, very well written and incorporates much recent 1970s literature. . . . The 1970s is an important addition to the growing body of literature focused on the decade.
— Nick Blackboum

49th Parallel

[T]his is an ambitious and important work that skillfully analyzes all aspects of the seventies and defines its legacy for present times.
— Karl Helicher

ForeWord Reviews

Borstelmann (history, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; The Cold War and the Color Line) came of age in the 1970s. In this sweeping survey, he offers a fresh assessment of the ideas and events of that much maligned decade, moving beyond the easy retelling of the Watergate scandal and the failure of the Carter presidency. Borstelmann is more interested in tracing the emergence of political and social movements (feminism, environmentalism, evangelicalism) and the resurgence of free-market economics. There are two broad themes here: the shift from faith in the public sector to faith in the private sector, and the impact of this in the international arena. Borstelmann argues that the resurgence of religious fundamentalism in the United States, Israel, and the Muslim world was a reaction to the global drive toward more equality and to what Borstelmann calls "hyper-individualism." He concludes that today's polarized society (culturally liberal and economically conservative) is a result of seeds sown in the 1970s. VERDICT While this is a scholarly work, with heavy doses of economic and political theory, Borstelmann's style is accessible to a wide audience; college and university students will benefit from the historic perspective on contemporary issues.—Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA

Library Journal