The global 1980s

The 1980s witnessed enormous change across the globe. Neoliberalism reshaped international capitalism and socialism, dictatorships fell, the Cold War ended, environmental issues began to be taken seriously, and globalisation helped the world become more interconnected than ever. This course examines the key characteristics of the global 1980s, assessing who the leading figures were and what their role was in forming this new world, and it considers how people lived as the threat of nuclear war lifted but the threat of ecological catastrophe deepened.

Course details

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Start Date
19 Jul 2026
Duration
5 Sessions over one week
End Date
25 Jul 2026
Application Deadline
28 Jun 2026
Location
International Summer Programme
Code
W25Am26

Tutors

Dr Jonathan Davis

Associate Professor in Modern European History, Anglia Ruskin University

Aims

This course aims to:

  • introduce you to the significant changes that take place across the world 
    in the 1980s
  • examine the consequences of these changes
  • foster an understanding of the main characteristics of the decade

Course content

On this course, you will examine the main developments that shaped the ‘Long 1980s’ as the world moved into a new socio-economic and political era. You will learn about globalisation and neoliberalism, and you will consider the changes that politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan made to global politics, economics and popular culture. The enormous technological developments and the growing global interconnectedness in the decade is also considered here, and you will think about how the decade could be one of both greed and giving as societies came to terms with the new mood that was emerging across the globe. And you will focus on the global democratic changes and the fall of dictatorships and authoritarian governments as the Cold War came to a close at the end of the ‘Long 1980s’.

What to expect on this course

This course will be taught through a mixture of lectures and seminar discussions.

Course sessions

1.  New beginnings: this session looks at global politics and societies at the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s

2.  Ghost towns and rust belts: this class considers the changes in Britain and the USA during the Thatcher-Reagan years, and it looks at the global Left’s response to neoliberalism

3.  Globalisation on a local level: this session looks at the cultural and technological changes that brought the world closer together 

4.  The third wave of democracy: this session looks at the democratic challenges to authoritarian governments and the end of global dictatorships 

5.  The end of the ‘Long 1980s’: this class focusses on the Cold War’s last years and the emergence of a new world order.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

  • demonstrate a detailed understanding of the key themes of the 1980s
  • understand and explain the key changes associated with globalisation 
  • critically assess the course and consequences of the third wave of democracy

Required reading

Davis, Jonathan, The Global 1980s: People, Power and Profit (Abingdon: Routledge, 2019)