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Examining the cultural phenomena from the post-World War II era to the modern-day, this study of Australia and global social change seeks to shine a light on the events and ideas that shaped the way we live. Each chapter focuses largely on a single decade, providing a timeline for political occurrences and prevalent trends that were spread through that era’s pop culture. Following these threads leads to our modern, pluralistic society: fractured and dissatisfied, placated by unlimited data plans and media consumption but unable to create many meaningful human relationships. Rejecting the re-emergence of existentialism and the rise of “post-modern” thinking, this book seeks to explain national and global culture in regard to all the major moments and popular shifts that led us to the current perspective.
With a direct and straightforward presentation, this book presents its viewpoint and information in a format that the layperson can understand and digest in a weekend or less. While written specifically from the Australian perspective, there is still global appeal to these ideas in part due to the Australian consumption of media from abroad and then the advent of the Internet which led to free access to cultures around the world. The strong sense of structure allows the reader to bounce from the introduction to the exploration of a theme to the moments in modern history that created that change in particular. It would be easy to draw out a treatise such as this into textbook-sized proportions, but the author uses a strong grasp of the economy of words and clarity of message to create a read that is easy to penetrate and enjoy. The lack of digression keeps the reader engaged and receptive to the information collected here.