In the years 1964-1979, there was significant change and development in terms of society in Britain, however it is more debatable wether or not it was a complete transformation. Areas such as youth culture, the views on race and immigration, the role of feminism and the understanding of environmentalism all developed and made significant change, but its hard to say these areas were completely transformed.
There was significant change in youth culture over the span of these years. In around 1975, the punk movement began to emerge influenced by bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks. They had a nihilistic attitude greatly contrasting the hippy movement that had been popular previously. It could be argued that the development of punks was a complete transformation from the stage youths had been at before. However, the amount of young people who were actually transformed in this way was low enough that although there was undeniable change and development in youth culture, it wasn't a full transformation. There were numerous other changes in youth culture at the time. The rise of David Bowie under the alias 'Ziggy Stardust' had a huge impact on not only music, but people too. His fearless exploration of gender and self expression inspired freedom in youths all over the world. However, there was also a rise in hooliganism in parts of the youth population, especially associated with skinheads. In football, hooliganism became so widespread that it became known as "the English disease." Despite these numerous areas of change and, in transformation in some groups, it's impossible to say that the entirety of youth culture underwent a transformation, as there would always be a majority of youths who didn't fall under categories such as skinheads or punks who, although they may hold different attitudes to previous generations of youths, weren't altogether different from those who came before. Its more accurate to say that rather than a transformation, there was significant development and change.
There was also change in the role of women in this period. The high point of second-wave feminism came in the 1970s and the idea of feminism began being popularised, splitting into various different ideologies, such as radical feminists and social feminists. In 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act was passed in attempt to end discrimination based on gender or marital status. It also held the intention of giving women increased control of their reproductive rights. The Birth Control pill was made widely available through the NHS in 1971. The act also set up the Equal Opportunities Commission to ensure the execution of both this act and the Equal Pay act of 1970, giving women fairer opportunities in education and employment. The economic position of women did start to improve, with pensions becoming more generous to those limited due to caregiving roles, and paid maternity leave being introduced in 1975, however there were still major inequalities. The Equal Opportunities Commission only launched 9 investigations in it's first 8 years, and only 10% of sex discrimination claims in the workplace were successful as it was so hard to prove. On top of this, Trade Unions were still male-dominated and prejudices that women in the workplace would suppress male wages remained. The Equal Pay act failed to solve the problems it intended to as there were easy loopholes for employers to exploit. Overall, there was progress concerning the position of women, however, it wasn't by any stretch a complete transformation.
There was an increased awareness, therefore progress was made in areas of environmental concerns. Pictures taken of earth from space brought awareness to the fragility of our planet. Ideas to keep the natural environment healthy began to emerge, drawing on the growing rejection of commercialism and emerging fears of a downside to scientific progress. An environmental pressure group, 'Friends of the Earth' was formed in the USA and soon expanded to include Britain, among other areas in Europe. The CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) was revitalised with focuses on protesting the use of nuclear energy for power due to the long-term dangers. Some environmental pressure groups were more radical with a violent approach, such as 'Greenpeace' and 'The Animal Liberation Front.' Alongside groups, there was growing media interest, with TV shows beginning to educate about the planet such as David Attenborough who gained massive audiences worldwide. The concerns were echoed in fiction, such as 'Watership Down' and one party became the 'Ecology Party' in 1975. Although concerns were rising in the population, little action was actually taken. Arguably the attitude toward the environment was transformed, however, due to lack of action and visible progress in these areas, environmentalism as a whole was not.
Race and immigration was also an area of change in the 70s. There were societal concerns over the increasing number of immigrants, especially with the rising number of Ugandan Asians fleeing persecution. By 1974 over 1 million New Commonwealth immigrants had come to Britain, raising tensions with regard to race relations. Labour passed another Race Relations Act and set up the Commission for Racial Equality in an attempt to prevent racism. In 1976, Rock Against Racism started, attracting 100,000 people. Despite attempts at preventing racism and improving race relations, it was still rife in Britain. The National Front became very active against non-white immigration, growing from an initial membership of 1500 in 1967 to 17,500 in 1972. It held marches and demonstrations, often provocative and violent. At least 2 murders, along with assaults and robberies were reported. There was distrust regarding police treatment of ethnic minorities. In 1976, only 70 of the 22,000 police officers were from non-white backgrounds. This same year, tensions were so high at the Notting Hill Carnival that over 300 people were injured. The death of Blair Peach in 1979 highlighted racial fears, being beaten to death by police for being part of an anti-racism league. Progress in race relations and ongoing racism were simultaneous and although some progress was made, attitudes were generally unchanged. Ethnic minorities were still abused and seen as inferior, there was no transformation of these views.
Although progress was made between the years 1964 and 1979, its impossible to say there was a complete transformation. Issues were being brought to attention and many changed their attitudes due to the influence of these years, but little progress was actually made. Although eyes were being opened to important issues, they were far from solved by the end of the 70s.
David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, 1973.
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