Lost ideals

Call it nostalgia, call it escapism, but I've been revisiting the era of idealism that existed some time between the student movements of the late 60s and the miners strike of the mid 80s. I was aware of the existence of unions in the 70s and remember a childhood of power cuts and bread strikes. Doing homework by the light of holy candles with a backlit image of Jesus blessing my maths jotter was a lot more fun than beneath the glow of an Osram 60W tungsten bulb.

Around this time, 400 miles away, students from UCL were taking over a Victorian square near Euston, establishing a community of squats, campaigning against property developers who intended to drive out the existing community and build an office development. This was the generation - and it wasn't my generation - who questioned previously held beliefs and assumptions, from the role of women to how our food is produced. Out of these movements a network of housing co-operatives, community arts projects and women's centres was established.

A decade later, as a young adult, I witnessed the collapse of the unions under Thatcher, the abolition of the GLC and attrition of student grants. Progressive ideals have all but vanished, except as a brief moment in history when young people believed they could change the system. Perhaps the changes the campaigned for were small when viewed from within the context of our current economic and social culture but they were significant.