1990s

Two New Books Take the 1990s as a Pivotal Decade

by Henry M.J. Tonks

Books by Lily Geismer and Nicole Hemmer look at the changes that took place within the Democratic and Republican parties (respectively) during a decade that was supposed to be the end of history. 

Is Parental Divorce the Hallmark of the Gen X Experience?

As 90s nostalgia gets mined for commercial benefit, a researcher looks at the centrality of divorce in the cultural expressions of Gen X. 

American Girl Dolls Declare the 1990s Ancient History

Gen X or Milennial parents who buy their children some of the popular dolls-with-a-back-story are in for some bad news about how long ago their own childhoods were. 

Did Today's Right Originate in the 1990s? (Review)

by John Ganz

Nicole Hemmer's book "Partisans" looks to a generation of conservatives who found the Reagan Revolution inadequate and laid the foundations for MAGA during the Clinton years. 

Lily Geismer on the Dismal Legacy of the "New Democrats"

A reviewer calls a new book on the 1990s a sobering look at the effects of tying social policy to the market. 

"Impeachment" Shows How Different the Clinton Scandal Looks with Women at the Center

by Nicole Hemmer

"Monica Lewinsky fits squarely in this retelling of the work and experiences of women in the 1990s, as well as broader efforts to grapple with the influence of the decade on our current political travails."

“Entrepreneurial Greed” — A Review Of Crack: Rock Cocaine, Street Capitalism, And The Decade Of Greed

David Farber's book examines the entrepreneurial culture of crack cocaine and how the drug trade meshed with Reagan-era changes in urban political economy.

The Forgotten Feminists of the Backlash Decade

Lisa Levenstein's book assesses a shift in the women's movement in the 1990s into digital spaces and professionalized issue organizations. A reviewer considers what that shift enabled women to achieve and what it cost. 

30 Years Ago, Romania Deprived Thousands of Babies of Human Contact

Here’s what’s become of them.

How the Gender Wars of the Early 1990s Shaped the World We Know

by Philip Jenkins

Political campaigns combined with media crusades and popular activism to effect a radical and irreversible change in concepts of sexual behavior, and to raise unprecedented alarm about the dangers of male sexual violence and harassment.