Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is one of the three major subsets of modern history, alongside the early modern period and the late modern period. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related to, the rise of postmodernity.
Contemporary history is politically dominated by the Cold War (1947–1991) between the Western Bloc, led by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc, led by the Soviet Union. The confrontation spurred fears of a nuclear war. An all-out "hot" war was avoided, but both sides intervened in the internal politics of smaller nations in their bid for global influence and via proxy wars. The Cold War ultimately ended with the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The latter stages and aftermath of the Cold War enabled the democratization of much of Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Decolonization was another important trend in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa as new states gained independence from European colonial empires during the period from 1945–1975. The Middle East also saw a conflict involving the new state of Israel, the rise of petroleum politics, the continuing prominence but later decline of Arab nationalism, and the growth of Islamism. The first supranational organizations of government, such as the United Nations and European Union, emerged during the period after 1945.
Countercultures rose and the sexual revolution transformed social relations in western countries between the 1960s and 1980s, as seen in the protests of 1968. Living standards rose sharply across the developed world because of the post-war economic boom. Japan and West Germany both emerged as exceptionally strong economies. The culture of the United States spread widely, with American television and movies spreading across the world.
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A partir d'analyse de sources historiques et d'exercices d'écriture, ce cours propose de comprendre comment les choix technologiques, politiques et économiques du passé ont forgé la «question écologiq
Approcher la Chine contemporaine par le biais des phénomènes qui émergent à l'international permet non seulement de s'intéresser à l'impact sur le reste du monde de cette Chine qui s'internationalise
L''objectif de cet enseignement est de comprendre le fantastique développement qu'a connu la Chine depuis le début des réformes économiques initiées par Deng Xiaoping.
History (derived ) is the systematic study and documentation of the human past. The period of events before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of these events. Historians seek knowledge of the past using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers.
Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. The field started to emerge in the 1960s, as scholars from previously colonized countries began publishing on the lingering effects of colonialism, developing a critical theory analysis of the history, culture, literature, and discourse of (usually European) imperial power. As an epistemology (i.
In many periodizations of human history, the late modern period followed the early modern period. It began approximately around the year 1800 and depending on the author, either ended with the beginning of contemporary history after World War II in 1945, or includes the contemporary history period up to the present day. Notable historical events in the late 18th century that marked the transition from the early modern period to the late modern period include – the American Revolution (1765–1791), the French Revolution (1789–1799), and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1760.
Explores acceleration, crisis, and architectural theory, focusing on modernism, postmodernity, and the Anthropocene, and challenges students to analyze contemporary architectural practices.
Explores the evolution of collective housing in Ticino, from post-war modernism to contemporary trends, addressing historical context, key architects, and current challenges.
The thesis explores a concept or rather a figure, that of horizontality, in its relations with the contemporary urbanized space and the paradigms of its design. It does so by acknowledging the constructive role of figures of speech and metaphors in spatial ...
This thesis investigates the impact of digital technology on the methods of design and production in architecture. Through research of history, theory, technology, and methods, the work determines whether the current use of new technologies should be consi ...
EPFL2012
This PhD thesis explores the way multiple and tenuous links connect collective memory and space in the contemporary city. It does so through a field enquiry carried out in Rome, Italy. This palimpsest-city has a particular relationship to the past, which c ...