The events of the 2010s unfolded with dizzying speed. The UK experienced three Conservative governments since 2010, a coalition agreement, three prime ministers and two referendums. Political turbulence disrupted democracies across the world: populist leaders toppled incumbents and wars were fought in Syria and Iraq. New political movements spilled onto the streets as people demanded climate action and confronted racism, misogyny and gender discrimination.
But it’s not just politics that defined the last decade. Our culture, too, has changed beyond recognition. Instagram, which was launched in 2010, shaped our identities and aspirations. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Spotify transformed how we consume film and music. New genres came to the fore. Grime became mainstream and pop merged with R&B. In anxious times, we turned to personal essays and memoir.
With a month to go until 2020, the New Statesman’s A-Z reflects on the political and cultural trends that reshaped the world during the decade when time sped up.
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A is for Avocado
Ever since millennials were accused of spending too much on brunch, the green fruit has become the flashpoint for a generational divide.
Anoosh Chakelian
B is for Black Lives Matter
The hashtag first appeared in 2012, after the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager. The movement continued to gain traction throughout the decade, organising hundreds of protests against multiple deaths of black people at the hands of US police.
Stephen Bush
C is for Coalition
Commentators began using the term “unprecedented”, which would come to define a decade of fractured British politics.
Anoosh Chakelian
D is for Drones
During the last decade, Western militaries shifted towards mechanised warfare to fight enemies such as Isis.
Shiraz Maher
E is for Ed Sheeran
Since releasing “A-Team” in 2011, Ed Sheeran has dominated the UK charts for almost the entire decade. Here’s why the transparency of his Everyman brand came to define a decade.
Eleanor Peake
F is for Fake News
The ease with which false information now spreads online has fractured our politics. This is how we ended up in a post-truth world.
Jasper Jackson
G is for Grime
The grassroots British genre became mainstream, cementing itself in history as one of music’s great disruptors.
Emily Bootle
H is for Hipster
The decade the dickhead died.
Anna Leszkiewicz
I is for Instagram
In 2010, an app was launched that would change our culture forever.
Sarah Manavis
J is for Juul
The 2010s saw the continued decline of smoking, partly helped by substitutes that have thrown up their own concerns.
Jasper Jackson
K is for Kate Middleton
A tale of two duchesses: one adored by the media, and one forced to launch legal action.
Indra Warnes
L is for Love Island
Love Island is no longer just a moneymaker that’s great for advertisers and an easy way to flog personalised water bottles, it is its own incredibly lucrative industry.
Sarah Manavis
M is for #MeToo
The 2017 hashtag represents women’s continued struggle against sexual violence.
Ellen Peirson-Hagger
N is for Netflix
The streaming service that changed both the content of the TV we watch, and how we watch it.
Ellen Peirson-Hagger
O is for Olympics
The 2012 games became a centrist panacea for our fractured political landscape, and paved the way for the corporate takeover of cities.
Hettie O’Brien
P is for Populism
How a slippery and evasive term came to define a decade of disruption.
George Eaton
Q is for Quantitative Easing
The emergency economic policy that endured throughout the decade that growth forgot.
George Eaton
R is for Refugee Crisis
The displacement of people by war and persecution reached a historic high.
Anoosh Chakelian
S is for Serial
The longform true crime podcast achieved unparalleled success.
Emily Bootle
T is for Trans Movement
An ongoing struggle for the rights of a vulnerable, tiny minority will continue into the next decade.
Ailbhe Rea
U is for Uber
The app that changed the way we travel, work, eat – and judge each other.
Anoosh Chakelian
V is for Viral Content
How “going viral” went from accident to business strategy
Sarah Manavis
W is for Wellness
How the language of self-care, empowerment and inclusivity was sold back to people with disposable income
Anna Leszkiewicz
X is for Extinction Rebellion
The group that finally put climate change at the front of public consciousness
Hettie O’Brien
Y is for YOLO
The continued evolution of online language
Emily Bootle
Z is for Generation Z
The kids putting the world to shame
Indra Warnes
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