Reading group on the 1990s

Nordic Humanities Center, Neoliberalism in the Nordics, and Norden since the End of History invite researchers and students at UCPH Humanities and other interested parties to join our reading group on the 1990s.

The 1990s has often been portrayed as the “good” decade, that is, as a decade marked by prosperity and peace, alongside the emergence of the Internet, and the distinctive trends in fashion, movies, and music that defined the era. However, recent research has told very different narratives about the decade.  Among other things, they describe the 1990s as the beginnings of a new and more turbulent period of rising anger and domestic turmoil that anticipated the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today.

Against this background, this reading group will attempt to historicize the 1990s by discussing the following questions:  What was the 1990s? How are the 1990s related to today? How can and should we study the 1990s in terms of themes, questions, and approaches? And how are the (largely) American perspectives that dominates current research on the 1990s relatable and applicable to a European/Nordic context?

Following a short introduction by Professor Johan Strang (University of Helsinki), we will debate the following texts:

John Ganz, “The Year the Clock Broke,” The Baffler, nr. 42 (2018) https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-year-the-clock-broke-ganz
 
Gavin Jacobsen, “The 1990s: An age without qualities,” The New Statesmen (March 2012)
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/uk/2021/03/1990s-age-without-qualities
 
Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann, “Human Rights and History,” Past & Present, Vol 232, Issue 1, (2016), p. 279–310. 
https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/232/1/279/1752430?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Everyone is welcome. Please write to Rune Korgaard rko@hum.ku.dk if you would like to participate.
Location: Copenhagen University, South Campus, room 12.3.07