19521992

19521992 is a compact designation used by historians and cultural analysts to denote the forty-year span from 1952 to 1992. Unlike standardized periodizations, its boundaries and emphasis vary by field and region; it is commonly used to capture the transformation from the postwar era to the early post-Cold War era.

The period saw decolonization and the emergence of new nation-states in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, alongside persistent Cold War-era rivalries between the major blocs. Economically, postwar reconstruction gave way to mature consumer societies, shifts toward neoliberal policies in the 1980s, and rising globalization. Politically, many governments experienced liberalization and reform processes, while social movements—such as civil rights activism and other countercultural currents—gained influence across multiple regions.

Technological and scientific advances defined the era. The space program sustained public interest in science, while the microprocessor and the personal computer transformed industry and daily life. The development of packet-switched networks led to the early Internet, and the World Wide Web was introduced in 1991, accelerating global connectivity and information exchange.

By the end of the period, the Cold War had substantially ended; the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the associated political realignments contributed to a new international order and to a rapidly evolving global economy in the early 1990s.

Scholarly use of 19521992 is not uniform. Some authors apply the label to regional histories, others to global analyses, and still others treat it as a narrative framing rather than a fixed chronicle. It remains a descriptive shorthand rather than a formal era.