'Crisis, What Crisis?': Rethinking the 1970s in the UK by Kerrie McGiveron
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The 1970s is a much-maligned decade in British history, with academics, social commentators and popular memory focusing on economic, social and political crisis and the end of the post war economic boom.
At the beginning of the decade, Ted Heath’s Industrial Relations Act sparked massive trade union industrial stoppages nationally. In communities, rent and rate strikes opposed the punitive Housing Finance Act. The 1973 Oil Crisis sparked international recession, resulting in power cuts and a three-day week. Increased racial tensions in communities underlined the difficulties of the period. As well as this, the 1970s were a period of dramatic social and cultural change. Fashion, music and technological development facilitated the rise of a new youth culture. Disco, punk and rock provided the soundtrack to this period which, as well as being a time of economic and social instability, was also a moment of hope and resistance for many.
This short course will introduce you to some of the key moments of the 1970s to consider the question of crisis for this decade. It will look more broadly at the social and cultural history of the decade, focusing on collective and individual experience to examine this decade using a history from below approach. We will examine a wide range of sources, including oral history interviews, to explore this period from a fresh perspective.
Some of the themes we will be discussing in the course are as follows:
The Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM)
The first national WLM conference was held in Oxford in 1970 and resulted in four demands:
- Equal pay
- Equal educational and job opportunities
- Free contraception and abortion on demand
- Free 24-hour nurseries
- Two further demands were added at later conferences:
- Legal and financial independence for all women (Edinburgh, 1974)
- The right to a self-defined sexuality.
At grass roots level, women organised collectively, often using consciousness-raising groups to discover discrimination and oppression in everyday life. Women challenged gendered stereotypes and worked practically by establishing bookshops, self-help groups, and shelters for women experiencing domestic violence. We will look more closely at some of these groups to explore how women organised and the impact of their activism.
Resistance and Activism
The longest rent and rate strike against the Housing Finance Act was on the Tower Hill estate of Kirkby, seven miles North of Liverpool. Plagued by social malaise and sub-standard housing, the community enacted a 14-month long rent strike. This action prompted further community activism in Kirkby, with residents tackling issues around housing, unemployment, and road safety in the town. We will use this local example as a case study to consider the housing crisis more broadly, focusing on individual and collective experiences of resistance.
The Anit-Nazi League (ANL) was formed in 1977 and aimed to oppose far-right groups in the UK. Against the backdrop of increased racism and police brutality, the ANL aimed to challenge racism and fascism. This included high profile demonstrations as well as establishing the Rock Against Racism festival and engaging in running battles with the National Front. We will look more closely at the formation of the ANL and consider their impact as well as reading and listening to participants’ accounts.
The Winter of Discontent (1978-1979)
This period was characterised by strikes in both the private and public sector, including refuse collectors, NHS workers and grave diggers. The election of Margaret Thatcher ended the post war consensus and is often seen as the harbinger of the neoliberal politics we see today. We will look at this industrial action and perceptions of it, examining individual accounts and the impact of the press on popular perception of this period.
Overall, this course will provide an in-depth overview of this period, using lesser-known sources and case studies and will open discussions about the impact of this period and its continued relevance to today’s economic, social and political context.
'Crisis, What Crisis?': Rethinking the 1970s in the UK, is an online course with Kerrie McGiveron tthat begins on Thursday 7 October for 5 weeks - to enrol on this course click here.