1970s Summary

1970s: the Me Decade When journalist Tom Wolfe (1931–) surveyed the changes that had swept America in the past few years, he gave the decade a label that has stuck: "The Me Decade.&#x002... Read more

1970s: Print Culture Serious readers in the 1970s had good reason to be confused. Critics surveyed a publishing world that seemed no longer to be producing great works of literature, and they proclaim... Read more

Meeting Ground. The decade of the 1970s was a meeting ground for two opposing attitudes about science and technology: optimism that science could bring progress and prosperity and radical mistrust of... Read more

The Worst of Times, the Best of Times. After the social and cultural upheavals of the 1960s, the 1970s in general seemed a less exciting decade. In the media, however, things were definitely exciting... Read more

Society and the Law. Law, courts, and lawyers played increasing roles in the central social and political conflicts of the 1970s. Concerns about rising crime rates, the rights of the accused, and the... Read more

Calming Down. The 1970s began where the 1960s left off: restless, critical of the status quo, questioning traditional authority and social hierarchies, and flamboyantly expressive. The social upheava... Read more

Crisis. During the 1970s business conditions and the economy began to disappoint the expectations that Americans had built up during the post—World War II years. International events — the most i... Read more