Histoire US 1960s

introduction of 1960s

1960s : contrasts of idealism and conflict, prosperity and poverty, unity and division

=> pursued equality and reform, faced war

=> decade’s tensions reshaped American democracy, culture and economy

The Civil Rights Movement

=> quest of racial equality

1954 : Brown v; Board of Education declared school segregation unconstitutional

1963 : The Birmingham protests and the March on Washington broth a national attention to civil rights

1964: Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation and discrimination based on race, color, or religion

1965 : Voting Rights Act guaranteed African Americans access to the ballot box

            + The Watts Riot showed urban frustration

Two generations emerged :

• Old guard : non-violent action, inclusive (cross-racial alliances)

• New Generation : violence as a possible response, exclusive(Black self-reliance)

=>1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. marked a tragedy and the symbolic end of an era

The Student Movement

1960s baby-boom generation come of age: mass university enrollment created a politically active youth population questioning authority and social reforms

Two movements took shape

1)The New Left

• Represented by the Free Speech Movement and Students for a Democratic Society

• Advocated direction action, participatory democracy, solidarity with decolonizing Third World nations

2)The Counterculture

• Valued radical individualism, artistic freedom, rejection of middle-class conformity

• ⁃ Expressed itself more through lifestyle, music, fashion, communal living

John F.Kennedy presidency

(1961-1963) eroded hope and generational renewal : but was assassinated

Lyndon B. Johnson continued his legacy with vast of social reforms

The Great society

1964: University of Michigan speech : vague vision of social justice = collective engagement, moral use of economic prosperity

• Economic Opportunity Act (1964) = launched 40 social programs

• Major expansion of education : reached 31% of federal budget by 1971

Relative poverty and Social Policy

• Even poor families owned modern goods (TVs, sawing machines, cars), yet many lived without essentials such as nutritious food, proper clothing

Results of Social programs

• ⁃ Poverty declined from 22% of the population in 1959 to 11% in 1973

The Vietnam War

=>Johnson escalated military involvement in Vietnam

• 1964-1968 : the US forces grew from 23,000 to 500,000 men: 3M tons of bombx were dropped

• => Draft system revealed deep social inequality

• 42% of men: no high school diploma VS 23% with

• 31% of front line soldiers were Black, but Americans made up 11% of the population

A dichotomous decade

=>defined by contradictions

• Result polarization

• Budget deficits

• Growing skepticism

By the 1970s, new political forces and economic models emerged

• Political consequences : gov loss of credibility & status

• ⁃ Economic consequences : federal deficit, new model of consumerism, end of the inclusive Keynesian model

The End of Equalitarianism Paradigm

=>Consumer culture shifted from collective equality to individual distinction

=> Keynesian inclusiveness gave way to neoliberal individualism and fiscal restraint

Intellectual Analysis

=> two influential thinkers offered interpretations of these changes

• Emanuel Todd : rising inequality to educational and family patterns: grater access to higher education, created new social stratification and revived inequality

• John Kenneth Galbraith : argued that affmeutn majority became politically dominant, the gov thus maintained the status quo and prioritized the short term interests of the well-off

New Inequalities

Income distribution data who this shift clearly:

=> a new social order emerged: defined by education, consumption and inequality