The Seventies

This article deals with the cultural and social aspects and trends of the 1970s. For a detailed list of events, please see 1970s.

Related Topics:
Cultural - Social - Trends - Event - 1970s

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The Seventies in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979 (see:1970s). The decade saw great changes in the worldwide economic and cultural environment, especially the abandonment of traditional values and embracing of new ideas.

Related Topics:
1970 - 1979 - 1970s

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The United States, which had become an influential global power, experienced much of the transition. While the sixties saw social activism, society became more self-absorbed in the seventies. Analyst and writer Tom Wolfe epitomized this feeling in 1976, calling the seventies the "Me Decade." Music became at once more introspective with the singer-songwriter movement and more carefree with the rise of disco music. As the decade continued on, the American world view became apprehensive, with continuing inner-city poverty and rising urban crime rates, the Watergate hearings broadcast on television, and the Vietnam War still fresh in the national memory. Network, arguably one of the decade's most representative films, dealt with narcissism and paranoia as violence escalated in the Middle East and America was crippled by the Oil Shock of 1973. As the economy slipped, the use of recreational drugs increased and many began to fear purported cults such as the Children of God. By the end of the decade the feminist movement had helped improve women's working conditions and environmentalism had become a major cause in the United States and Europe.

Related Topics:
United States - The sixties - Tom Wolfe - 1976 - Singer-songwriter - Disco - World view - Watergate - Vietnam War - Network - Middle East - Oil Shock - 1973 - Recreational drugs - Purported - Cults - Children of God - Feminist movement - Environmentalism

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While the United States experienced recession, the economy of Japan rose to claim the top spot on the world stage. The economies of many third world countries continued to bloom in the early 1970s through the green revolution. They might have thrived and become stable in the way that Europe recovered after the war through the Marshall Plan; however, the economic growth was stunted by the oil crisis. Hence, in the developing world, the seventies are remembered with lingering nostalgia for the decade's unfulfilled passion for change and hope for a prosperous and egalitarian society which remained incomplete. In 1973, foreign peacekeepers fled Vietnam, and the war that had lasted for nearly a decade ended with the Paris Peace Accords and communism continuing to spread. In neighboring Cambodia, several million citizens were executed by communist leader Pol Pot. Meanwhile, black South Africans still remained under apartheid following the death of activist Steve Biko.

Related Topics:
United States - Japan - Green revolution - Europe - Marshall Plan - 1973 - Vietnam - Paris Peace Accords - Communism - Cambodia - Pol Pot - South Africans - Apartheid - Steve Biko

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