ABSTRACT
British society had not undergone a fundamental transformation in the 1960s, the class system remaining broadly intact with the ‘permissive society’ being somewhat of a misnomer (see Marwick, 1990:154, 170). There was a sense, however, that ‘life was lived with greater gusto than ever’ (ibid.: 152), despite many of the fears expressed in 1960s cinema regarding the consequences for class, consumerism and particularly female independence. Yet these concerns reverberated well into the 1970s when social conditions had deteriorated and particular conflicts, which had been brewing under the surface in the 1960s, became acute. These conflicts primarily concerned industrial relations, race and gender, a volatile melting-pot of issues which were symptomatic of Britain’s more fundamental malaise.
