The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present

“A look into how the dreams and nightmares of the ’90s persist in our current popular and political culture … A certifiable page-turner” Karen Tongson, author of normporn

The 1990s were a cultural watershed, marking a turning point in popular music, television, cinema, literature, and fashion. Nestled between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 attacks, the decade witnessed the “end of history” and the birth of the internet, the consolidation of neoliberalism, and a political urgency embodied by the anti-globalization movement. Now in the rearview mirror, this pivotal decade appears as a time to be reckoned with, its history yet to be written, and we have only begun to come to terms with its lasting significance.

This anthology dives into the contemporary fascination with the ’90s. Plotting a playful course between sociology and cultural studies on the one hand, and giddy nostalgia on the other, the book charts decisive developments of the decade to fully apprehend its resonances today.

Covering everything from “girl power,” Star Trek, and hip-hop, to queer cinema, anarchist counterculture, and the erotic thriller, The Return of the 90s excavates key moments in ’90s culture and uncovers its multiple reckonings in the present.

Madeline Lane-McKinley is a writer, editor, and cultural critic. Her books include Comedy Against Work, Solidarity with Children, and Fag/Hag. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Boston Review, The New Inquiry, Protean Magazine, and elsewhere.

Sean O’Brien is a writer and a lecturer at the University of Bristol. His research has appeared in Cultural Critique, Discourse, Polygraph, Science Fiction Studies, Crossings, and the Bloomsbury Companion to Marx.