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2020: Could this be the end of the era that began in 1979?
Historical eras are hard to define, but our current moment feels like one of transition — although the destination is not yet clear, argues JOE GILL

IS IT possible to recognise in the present what historians will later declare to be a moment of transition from one historical period — defined according to prevailing features in politics, economics and society — to another? Are we in such a moment now?

Periodisation of historical epochs is controversial and inexact, and traditional historians have frowned upon it. Yet economists and historians have attempted to delineate distinct periods of history. 

These include Eric Hobsbawm, who wrote of the long 19th century (1789-1914), and the short 20th century (1914-1989) and economist Joseph Schumpeter, who defined the “creative destruction” theory of technological change.

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