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In this book, Judy Kutulas complicates the common view that the
1970s were a time of counterrevolution against the radical
activities and attitudes of the previous decade. Instead, Kutulas
argues that the experiences and attitudes that were radical in the
1960s were becoming part of mainstream culture in the 1970s, as
sexual freedom, gender equality, and more complex notions of
identity, work, and family were normalized through popular
culture--television, movies, music, political causes, and the
emergence of new communities. Seemingly mundane things like
watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show, listening to Carole King songs,
donning Birkenstock sandals, or reading Roots were actually
critical in shaping Americans' perceptions of themselves, their
families, and their relation to authority. Even as these cultural
shifts eventually gave way to a backlash of political and economic
conservatism, Kutulas shows that what critics perceive as the
narcissism of the 1970s was actually the next logical step in a
longer process of assimilating 1960s values like individuality and
diversity into everyday life. Exploring such issues as feminism,
sexuality, and race, Kutulas demonstrates how popular culture
helped many Americans make sense of key transformations in U.S.
economics, society, politics, and culture in the late twentieth
century.
In this book, Judy Kutulas complicates the common view that the
1970s were a time of counterrevolution against the radical
activities and attitudes of the previous decade. Instead, Kutulas
argues that the experiences and attitudes that were radical in the
1960s were becoming part of mainstream culture in the 1970s, as
sexual freedom, gender equality, and more complex notions of
identity, work, and family were normalized through popular
culture--television, movies, music, political causes, and the
emergence of new communities. Seemingly mundane things like
watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show, listening to Carole King songs,
donning Birkenstock sandals, or reading Roots were actually
critical in shaping Americans' perceptions of themselves, their
families, and their relation to authority. Even as these cultural
shifts eventually gave way to a backlash of political and economic
conservatism, Kutulas shows that what critics perceive as the
narcissism of the 1970s was actually the next logical step in a
longer process of assimilating 1960s values like individuality and
diversity into everyday life. Exploring such issues as feminism,
sexuality, and race, Kutulas demonstrates how popular culture
helped many Americans make sense of key transformations in U.S.
economics, society, politics, and culture in the late twentieth
century.
Founded by radicals in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union
experienced several key changes in its formative years. Judy
Kutulas traces the history of the ACLU between 1930 and 1960, as
the organization shifted from the fringe to the liberal mainstream
of American society. In alternating chapters, Kutulas explores
operations at the national level and among the group's local
branches. To gain mainstream credibility, the radicals at ACLU
headquarters became more professional, began using court challenges
rather than direct action, and carefully chose their battles to
focus on national security as much as on the protection of dissent.
Meanwhile, the group's affiliates, separated from the
institutionalization of the national office, maintained the
idealism of defending the rights of all individuals, no matter how
unpalatable their beliefs and activities. The shifts at the
national level made the ACLU more government-friendly and less
radical, but also, Kutulas argues, more timid and weak. Civil
liberties activists in ACLU branches around the country ultimately
pushed the organization to return to its radical roots in the
1960s. In an afterword, Kutulas addresses how post-9/11 America
poses the familiar challenge of balancing national security and
individual rights that came to the forefront in the early decades
of the ACLU.
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