Editing Swinging Sixties (section)

{{short description|Youth-driven cultural revolution centred in London in the 1960s}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox historical event
 |Event_Name    = Swinging Sixties
 |partof        = the [[counterculture of the 1960s]]
 |Image_Name    = Londons Carnaby Street, 1966.jpg
 |Imagesize     = 300px
 |Image_Alt     =
 |Image_Caption = A scene in [[Carnaby Street]], in London's [[West End of London|West End]], {{circa|1966}}
 |Thumb_Time    =
 |AKA           = Swinging London
 |Location      = [[United Kingdom]]
 |Date          = 1960s
 |Result        = Changing social, political and cultural values
 |URL           =
}}

The '''Swinging Sixties''' was a [[Youth culture|youth-driven]] cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising [[modernity]] and fun-loving [[hedonism]], with '''Swinging London''' denoted as its centre.<ref name="bfi">{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-set-swinging-60s|title=10 great films set in the swinging 60s|last1=Wakefield|first1=Thirza|date=15 July 2014|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=5 November 2016}}</ref> It saw a flourishing in art, music and fashion, and was symbolised by the city's "pop and fashion exports", such as [[the Beatles]], as the [[multimedia]] leaders of the [[British Invasion]] of musical acts; the [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] and [[Psychedelia|psychedelic]] subcultures; [[Mary Quant]]'s [[miniskirt]] designs; popular fashion models such as [[Twiggy]] and [[Jean Shrimpton]]; the iconic status of popular shopping areas such as London's [[King's Road]], [[Kensington]] and [[Carnaby Street]]; the political activism of the [[anti-nuclear movement]]; and the [[sexual liberation]] movement.<ref name="bfi" />

Music was an essential part of the revolution, with "the London sound" being regarded as including the Beatles, [[the Rolling Stones]], [[the Who]], [[the Kinks]] and [[the Small Faces]], bands that were additionally the mainstay of [[pirate radio]] stations like [[Radio Caroline]], [[Wonderful Radio London]] and [[Swinging Radio England]].<ref name="history" /> Swinging London also reached [[British cinema]], which according to the [[British Film Institute]] "saw a surge in formal experimentation, freedom of expression, colour, and comedy", with films that explored [[Counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] and [[Satire|satirical]] themes.<ref name="bfi" /> During this period, "creative types of all kinds gravitated to the capital, from artists and writers to magazine publishers, photographers, advertisers, film-makers and product designers".<ref name="history" />

During the 1960s, London underwent a "metamorphosis from a gloomy, grimy [[post-war]] capital into a bright, shining epicentre of [[Style (visual arts)|style]]".<ref name="history" /> The phenomenon has been agreed to have been caused by the large number of young people in the city—due to the [[Post–World War II baby boom|baby boom of the 1950s]]—and the [[postwar economic boom]].<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/swinging-60s-capital-of-cool|title=Swinging 60s – Capital of Cool|publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History]]. AETN UK|access-date=5 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106123349/http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/swinging-60s-capital-of-cool|archive-date=6 November 2016}}</ref> Following the abolition of the [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|national service]] for men in 1960, these young people [[Postmaterialism|enjoyed greater freedom and fewer responsibilities]] than their parents' generation,<ref name="history" /> and "[fanned] changes to social and sexual politics".<ref name="bfi" />

Shaping the [[popular consciousness]] of aspirational Britain in the 1960s, the period was a [[West End of London|West End]]–centred phenomenon regarded as happening among young, [[middle class]] people, and was often considered as "simply a diversion" by them. The swinging scene also served as a [[Consumerism|consumerist]] counterpart to the more overtly political and radical [[UK underground|British underground]] of the same period. English cultural geographer Simon Rycroft wrote that "whilst it is important to acknowledge the exclusivity and the dissenting voices, it does not lessen the importance of Swinging London as a powerful moment of image making with very real material effect."<ref>{{cite book |author=Rycroft, Simon |year=2016 |chapter=Mapping Swinging London |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5O1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT87 |title=Swinging City: A Cultural Geography of London 1950–1974 |publisher=Routledge |pages=87 |isbn=978-1-317-04734-6 }}</ref>