[Commlist] Sociology of the 1980s - Call for Papers

Sociology of the 1980s
Call for Papers
Department of Sociology, University of York
Tuesday 9 July 2024

Why are the 1980s - only one decade and yet with so much packed in - of 
sociological significance in the UK and beyond? The intervening years 
have witnessed a resurgence of interest and fascination with stories, 
memories and various reimaginings of the 1980s, its inequalities and its 
institutions. 2024 marked 40 years since the 1984 UK miners strike and 
nostalgic references to 80s iconography proliferate today, for example 
in the hugely popular Netflix show Stranger Things. The 1980s represent 
a historical moment defined by rapid cultural change and rising 
contradictions - where popular culture in the form of game shows and 
Ceefax for example offered new forms of entertainment and intensified 
the commodification of everyday life. Perhaps surprisingly then, the 
1980s have often been overlooked within academic scholarship. The 80s 
are often remembered as a time of deep polarisation; north /south, the 
haves /have nots, producers /consumers, Scargill /Thatcher, home owner 
/council tenant, ITV /BBC, left /right for example, and popular notions 
of working class people as romantic rebels linger today.  However, as 
Beckett (2015) has argued, in fact, the 1980s as a decade was also often 
a time of increasing cultural and political ambiguity and ambivalence. 
In order to fully understand the 1980s, its impact, contradictions and 
legacies, we argue that we need more research that transcends polarising 
accounts of the 80s and instead explores in more detail the power and 
impetus behind these changes. Drawing on Stuart Hall, we are interested 
in hearing more about how the battle for ‘popular authority’ was won and 
in particular the various ways in which industrial, political and 
commercial transformations mapped onto everyday life.

We need a sociology of the 80s because we are the 80s. It is a decade 
not only defined by huge inequalities, dramatic social change and rapid 
transformations, but also a moment where these new ways of thinking and 
living were firmly galvanised and remain so today. We argue that the way 
we live today is directly shaped by our recent past but especially by 
the 1980s. We are interested in hearing from scholars with an interest 
in this historical period particularly from a sociological perspective. 
We welcome papers based on established research ideas, but also those 
that are developing ideas and concepts in their early stages too.

We are interested in receiving abstracts that challenge some of the 
mythologies and scholarly absences of the 1980s and in research that 
reimagines the 80s. There are a huge range of possibilities here. 
Examples might include but are not limited to:

Radical histories
Campaigning and activism
Popular culture
BBC
Technology
Mass Observation
Urban environment
Consumption, shopping malls and entertainment
Music
Thatcher and Thatcherism

Please submit a short abstract of 250 words to Dr Emma Casey, Prof Dave 
Beer, Dr Gareth Millington and Dr Daryl Martin (emma.casey /at/ york.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(emma.casey /at/ york.ac.uk)> _by April 30 2024._

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