The changes of the 1960s remain controversial, and people hold very different interpretations of whether they were good or bad. Learning to weigh up these interpretations is an important historical skill.

The Positive Interpretation

One view sees the decade as a time of liberation and progress. Women gained greater independence, gay men were no longer criminalised, censorship was relaxed, and society became more tolerant, creative and equal. From this viewpoint, the old world of stiff deference and narrow rules was rightly swept away.

The Negative Interpretation

A very different view condemns the "permissive society". It argues that respect for authority, religion and the traditional family was undermined, and links the 1960s to later increases in crime, divorce and drug use. From this viewpoint, the decade let go of valuable standards and discipline.

Why Interpretations Differ

These interpretations clash partly because of the values people hold: those who prize freedom and equality praise the decade, while those who prize order and tradition criticise it. They may also stress different evidence, or judge the period with the benefit of hindsight, knowing what came afterwards.

Reaching a Judgement

A good historian recognises that the same events can support opposite conclusions, and that no interpretation is simply "right". The debate about the legacy of the 1960s is still very much alive in Britain today.

Year 9 Democracy and Dictatorship

Interpretations: Were the Changes Positive?