Major Project Progress

I have just come across a book called "The Portable Sixties Reader" by Ann Charters. Although I am not certain of the value of its content, I was interested to discover how she has demarcated the era. I believe the segregation of the sixties culture into specific topic headings and chapters is an interesting reflection of the historian's views. Charters has chosen to organise her selection of essays, poetry, and fiction under:

• Civil rights
• Women's rights
• The sexual revolution
• Environmental issues
• The antiwar, free-speech, and black-arts movements
• The use of drugs in pursuit of enlightenment.

I believe the final point is an interesting concept, has the historian taken a romantic, euphemistic view of rampant recreational drug use as "the pursuit of enlightenment." Does this make the 1960s an era of wise martyrs, or common thugs? This is pretty interesting and shows how the simple use of language can provide an implicit meaning. I am beginning to see how the historians writing about the sixties designate their sympathies.